248. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Pakistan1
100260. CINCPAC for POLAD—Please pass to Ambassador Byroade. Subject: Prime Minister’s Letter to the Secretary.
The following letter from Prime Minister Bhutto to the Secretary was delivered to the Department on May 3:
Quote: Dear Mr. Secretary: I thank you for your letter of April 29.2
I have always attached the utmost importance to the Pakistan-United States relationship. It has benefited both countries. I have publicly expressed my faith in this relationship on many occasions and during the past five years my government has steadily striven to strengthen it further.
However, we have been disturbed in the recent past by the role of the United States, with its adverse impact on Pakistan’s stability, its likely repercussions on the security of this region, already under mounting Soviet pressure, and on our bilateral relationship. My regret is the greater because much of what has happened was entirely avoidable. We were frankly shocked when, as Pakistan’s election campaign got under way and during its aftermath, disturbing evidence began to accumulate of American involvement on the side of the opposition which had launched a violent campaign designed to subvert the constitution and undermine the stability of Pakistan. It was for that reason that I broached this subject with Ambassador Byroade on not less than [Page 608] three occasions. I mentioned to him concrete instances of United States role in this context. Ambassador Byroade’s explanations did nothing to reassure us.
Eventually, matters came to such a pass that I was left with no choice but to take my people into confidence in the course of my recent speech in Parliament.
I welcome your suggestion that we discuss our concerns privately. I would be very happy to receive you in Pakistan for this purpose at your earliest convenience.
In the meantime, I would do whatever is possible to restrain public reaction against foreign intervention in Pakistan’s domestic affairs. However, you will appreciate that the momentum that this reaction has gathered cannot be abruptly and immediately arrested.
I sincerely hope that the kind of discussions you propose would lead to a restoration of mutual confidence and understanding and a renewal of our common awareness of the abiding value of the relationship between Pakistan and the United States. Sincerely, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
End quote
We would appreciate your comments on this letter in general, and particularly on the reference to the “three occasions.” We are only aware of the discussion at the farewell dinner.3
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D770155–0820. Secret; Niact Immediate. Also sent to CINCPAC. Drafted and approved by Lande.↩
- See Document 246.↩
- In response to the inquiry, the Embassy reported in telegram 4530 from Islamabad, May 4: “Aside from discussion at farewell dinner, only other occasion we can identify was in course of Bhutto-Byroade March 18 conversation on internal political situation which accompanied Ambassador’s demarche on nuclear matters. This conversation is recorded in Islamabad 2682 [see footnote 2, Document 238] and related to Bhutto’s obvious concern in the delay of a Presidential congratulatory message.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P840077–2517, N770003–0179)↩