Office of the Historian

349. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski) to President Carter1

Washington, July 3, 1979

SUBJECT

  • Daily Report

[Omitted here is material unrelated to Pakistan.]

Pakistan Nuclear Developments: [1 line not declassified] Foreign Affairs Advisor Shahi indicated [1 line not declassified] that:

—He had been misinformed by the project’s director in early 1978 that enough enriched uranium would be available for a nuclear test device by mid-1979.

—He understood the difficulties in obtaining project equipment from abroad and the setbacks which this must have caused.

—Pakistan’s nuclear program was coming under great international pressure, and he was unsure how much longer it could be resisted.

—Considerable urgency was attached to the rapid acquisition of enough enriched uranium to test a nuclear device. (S)

[less than 1 line not declassified] the enrichment project was not far enough along to provide enough fissionable material to conduct a test within the next six months. [less than 1 line not declassified] areas where [less than 1 line not declassified] test preparations were underway shows no clear evidence of such preparations. The State Department continues to believe that Pakistan is at least two or three years away from being able to assemble a nuclear test device from indigenously produced material. (TSC)

[Omitted here is material unrelated to Pakistan.]

  1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, President’s Daily CIA Brief File, Box 20, 7/1/79–7/6/1979. Top Secret; Sensitive; [handling restriction not declassified]. Carter initialed “C” in the upper right-hand corner of the memorandum.↩