Office of the Historian

345. Memorandum From Acting Secretary of State Christopher to President Carter1

Washington, June 1, 1979

1. Pakistan: While purportedly defending the peaceful purposes of Pakistan’s nuclear program, Foreign Affairs Advisor Agha Shahi has implied to our Charge that the program’s goal is a nuclear explosion.2 Shahi said that, even if Pakistan set off a peaceful explosion in the next few months, it should not be cause for concern. He asserted that talk of an Islamic bomb is nonsense and said Pakistan had rejected a request by Qaddafi for Libyan participation in the Pakistani reprocessing plant. Although we have no confirmation of reports that Pakistan might test a nuclear device within the next few months, we are advising our allies that our earlier estimate of a three to five year period before Pakistan could explode a device may be questionable.

[Omitted here is material unrelated to Pakistan.]

  1. Source: Carter Library, Plains File, Box 39, State Department Evening Reports, 6/79. Secret. Carter initialed “C” at the top of the memorandum.↩
  2. No other record of this conversation with Constable was found. CIA Intelligence Information Cable [cable number not declassified], May 22, reported a Pakistani official’s assertion that “Pakistan had succeeded in assembling what he described as a small, crude nuclear device, but that President-General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq would probably delay testing of the device until late September or early October 1979.” (Central Intelligence Agency, Office of the Director of Central Intelligence, Job 81B00401R: Subject Files of the Presidential Briefing Coordinator for DCI (1977–1981), Box 20, Folder 2: Tab E DCI Book–PRC Meeting, Pakistan and India (Nuclear Matters) 5/23/79 PRC)↩