Office of the Historian

299. Memorandum of Conversation1

Washington, August 23, 1978

SUBJECT

  • Pakistan Reprocessing

PARTICIPANTS

  • Congressman Clement Zablocki, Chairman, House International Relations Committee
  • David D. Newsom, P

Under Secretary Newsom telephoned Chairman Zablocki to advise him of the press conference which had been given by General Zia al-Huq, Pakistan’s Chief Martial Law Administrator.2 In this conference he had announced that the French had pulled back from the nuclear reprocessing plant in Pakistan.3 He had done so, however, in a way which appeared to leave the door open for satisfactory relations with the French as well as a resumption of normal relations with the U.S.

Chairman Zablocki expressed appreciation for being informed and noted that the resumption of American aid to Pakistan “should be no problem” if they are clearly not proceeding with reprocessing.

The Under Secretary told Chairman Zablocki that we would be proceeding with formal consultations with Congress on resumption of aid to Pakistan once we had a clear idea of both French and Pakistani intentions.

  1. Source: Department of State, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, David D. Newsom Subject Files, Lot 81D154, Box 15, Pakistan. Unclassified. Drafted by Newsom. Copies were sent to Bennet, Nye, and Coon.↩
  2. Telegram 8318 from Islamabad, August 24, transmitted a portion of Zia’s comments at his August 23 press conference, which was held following the swearing-in of his new civilian Cabinet. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D780346–0880) In telegram 8328 from Islamabad, August 24, the Embassy reported that Zia, “in an essentially one man show despite the presence of President Chaudhry and his new Cabinet fellows, announced the formation of a civilian government August 23. The appointment of the 24 member Cabinet, which contains 21 full Ministers and 3 Ministers of State, is the culmination of the Martial Law Administration’s lengthy and often frustrating search for a broader political base.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D780347–1017)↩
  3. On August 20, the French Ambassador to Pakistan shared with Hummel portions of Giscard’s letter to Zia confirming the abandonment of French participation in the building of a reprocessing plant in Pakistan. The French Ambassador termed the letter “the most extraordinarily obscure diplomatic communications he has ever encountered.” (Telegram 8167 from Islamabad, August 21; National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P850103–2258)↩