Office of the Historian

422. Letter From President Carter to Pakistani President Zia1

Washington, January 30, 1980
Dear Mr. President:

I have asked two of my close advisers, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Warren Christopher, to go to Pakistan to meet with you and your senior officials. I am glad you can find time to see them, for I know how exceptionally heavy your schedule has been in the past weeks.

In my State of the Union message to Congress last week, I focused almost entirely on Southwest Asia.2 I did this because of the immense importance that I attach to our relations with that area. It is, as I said then, truly of vital national interest to the United States.

I hope that you will share your views on the current situation with Dr. Brzezinski and Mr. Christopher so that they can report them back to me.

I have instructed them to be completely frank in their talks with you. It is of the greatest importance that the United States and Pakistan share a common appreciation of the situation and build a basis of trust for dealing with each other. In that context, specific issues, as important as they may be, can be addressed in a way that strengthens rather than weakens, the overall relationship.

In closing, let me congratulate you on the very successful Islamic Conference which Pakistan hosted and led.3 This is yet another evidence of the important role that Pakistan has to play in Southwest Asia and beyond.

Sincerely,4

Jimmy Carter
  1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P800029–0925. No classification marking.↩
  2. For the foreign policy section of Carter’s January 21 message, see Public Papers: Carter, 1980–81, Book I, pp. 162–180.↩
  3. Telegram 801 from Islamabad, January 29, transmitted a summary of the plenary session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, which was held in Islamabad January 26–29. The plenary session “passed a resolution Jan 29 that strongly ‛condemns the Soviet military aggression against the Afghani people.’ So far as we are aware, this constitutes the first open condemnation mentioning the Soviets by name on the part of nations with overlapping membership in the Organization of Islamic Conference, the Organization of African Unity and the Non-Aligned Movement. We believe it represents a major defeat for the Soviets.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800050–1060)↩
  4. Below his signature, Carter wrote: “Best wishes—J.”↩