307. Letter From Pakistani President Zia to President Carter1
I thank you for sharing your thoughts with me both before and after the Camp David meetings through your messages of August 152 and September 18.3 It is my sincere hope that your personal commitment and the dedicated efforts of your Administration to promote a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, will bear fruit.
We have read with deep interest the documents which were signed at the conclusion of the Camp David meetings. My Government has issued a public statement expressing its admiration for your determined [Page 719] efforts towards securing peace in the Middle East and the process jointly initiated by you and President Sadat to achieve this objective.
Pakistan is linked with the Middle East and the Arab world in immutable ties of history, culture and religion. Our people are, therefore, deeply committed to the cause of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. In our estimation, if the process of peace is to gather momentum, the initiative already taken by you would have to be pursued further to settle more fundamental issues which affect the entire Middle East region. No settlement of the Middle East conflict will be permanent or acceptable to the Arab and the Muslim world which fails to secure the national rights of the Palestinian people or does not ensure Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories including the Holy City of Jerusalem, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the Security Council.
It is our earnest hope that under your leadership the United States will continue to exercise its positive influence on the peace making process. The restoration of peace and stability in the area through your efforts will indeed be a great act of statesmanship and will undoubtedly bring its own reward to the United States.
I will also like to avail myself of this opportunity to convey to you our concern at the latest development in our region of which you would be aware. India’s decision to introduce an entirely new offensive weapon in South Asia by the acquisition of the Anglo-French Jaguar Deep Penetration Strike aircraft,4 will cause grave apprehension to the neighbouring countries. It is most regrettable that in total disregard of your Government’s sincere advice, India should have decided to augment its strike capability, at a time when there was no need or justification whatsoever for doing so. According to India’s own analysts these highly sophisticated strike aircraft can be effectively used only within the South Asian region.
In these circumstances, I would sincerely request you to consider bolstering Pakistan’s defence capability vis-a-vis the mounting threat to its security from several directions. I have already written to you in detail about our assessment of the developments in Afghanistan5 which the most recent events fully substantiate. While I am sparing no effort to promote peace and stability in our region by improving our relations with Afghanistan and India on the basis of mutual trust and confidence, I cannot overlook the fact that these two immediate neighbours of ours are bound in close treaty relationship with the Soviet Union which is relentlessly pursuing its own historic ambitions in and beyond our [Page 720] region. It is our earnest hope that U.S. preoccupations with the SALT and Camp David Agreements will not make it oblivious of the need to ensure responsible Soviet behaviour in the South Asian Region.
The developments which are currently taking place in our region, are of the deepest import and will have wide repercussions. I have, therefore, asked Mr. Agha Shahi, my Adviser on Foreign Affairs to seek an audience with you in order to acquaint you in detail with our observations and assessments. I am hopeful that you will have the time to receive him.
With profound regards,
Yours sincerely,6
General
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P780178–1557. No classification marking. The salutation is handwritten.↩
- Telegram 205979 to Islamabad, August 16, transmitted the text of Carter’s letter to Zia, which discussed the upcoming meeting with Begin and Sadat at the Camp David summit. The Embassy was informed that a signed original letter to Zia would not be sent. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D780332–1179)↩
- A message from Carter to Zia dated September 18 on the subject of the Camp David meetings was not found. Telegram 236001 to Islamabad, September 17, transmitted Carter’s congratulatory message to Zia on his assumption of the office of President. The message ended: “We wish you every success in your plans for a restoration of representative government in the months ahead.” The message was sent along with the instruction to the Embassy that “if you believe there will be congratulatory messages from other countries (such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, France, or the UK) you may at your discretion deliver following message from President Carter.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D780378–0891)↩
- See Document 141.↩
- See footnote 2, Document 279.↩
- The two closing paragraphs are handwritten.↩