Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XIX, South Asia

231. Letter From Secretary of State Vance to Pakistani Prime Minister Bhutto¹

Washington, February 14, 1977

Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

My predecessor has brought me fully up to date on our past consultations regarding non-proliferation issues, in the context of the close and friendly bilateral relationship our two Governments have enjoyed over several decades. I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm my interest in continuing this relationship which has been of benefit to both countries.

As you know, President Carter is deeply concerned about the implications of sensitive technology transfers, including reprocessing, for the non-proliferation objectives which are of fundamental importance on a worldwide basis. At the same time, we recognize the importance of the legitimate needs of others being fulfilled as they forego capabilities for which we can see no valid basis.

It is in this general context that I would like to suggest that we resume confidential discussions of alternatives to your Government’s reprocessing plans. In light of your upcoming elections,² I propose we consider opening consultations in mid- or late March unless you believe it would be useful to open these earlier. Pending these talks, I would hope that your Government would take no further steps to carry out the reprocessing project. For our part, we will do all we can to avoid making this a public issue between our two countries.

I hope that you share my feeling about the importance of resolving this issue to the satisfaction of both countries. I look forward to receiving your ideas as to the next steps in this dialogue.

Sincerely,

Cyrus Vance

1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P770030–2355. Confidential. Drafted on February 3 by Lande and Jan Kalicki in S/P; approved by Atherton. In the upper right-hand corner of the first page of the letter, an unknown hand wrote: “Orig given to Pak. Amb. by Mr Christopher Feb 14.”
2. In telegram 227 from Islamabad, January 8, the Embassy reported that during a January 8 address to the Pakistan National Assembly, Bhutto announced that general elections for the National Assembly would be held on March 7 and elections for provincial assemblies on March 10. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D770008–0153)