Office of the Historian

426. Letter From Pakistani President Zia to President Carter1

Islamabad, February 7, 1980
Dear Mr President,

I was happy to receive through Dr Zbigniew Brzezinski your kind letter of January 30, 1980,2 and I thank you also for your earlier letter3 sent through Mr Agha Shahi, my Adviser on Foreign Affairs.

The visit of Dr Brzezinski and Mr Warren Christopher has provided us with a valuable opportunity to discuss the regional strategic situation and has enabled our respective positions to be clarified. Your advisers were completely frank in their talks with me as I was with them. Indeed it is very necessary at this time that we should share with each other our perceptions of the situation and our views on dealing with it so that we can build up an edifice of mutual cooperation which will endure in the days to come.

In your State of the Union message, Mr President, you had indicated that you planned to propose to Congress a military and economic assistance programme for Pakistan.4 Dr Brzezinski and Mr Christopher will convey to you our considered views on this subject. It is our feeling that a premature focus on the quantum of such assistance before a full examination has been conducted of the nature of our requirements for a credible defensive capability would be counter-productive, particularly in the light of the report that the United States has offered to sell to India sophisticated electronic and navigational aids to enhance the offensive capability of the 200 Jaguar aircraft under procurement.5 Furthermore, Mr Gromyko’s forthcoming visit to India is expected to be climaxed by the announcement of a 2.6 billion dollar arms sales package to India.6

The team of experts which had stayed behind after the departure of your advisers has held detailed discussions with our officials, in the [Page 980] light of which you may wish to review the quantum of aid you deem appropriate, keeping in mind the gravity of threat posed to Pakistan.7

Dr Brzezinski’s public reiteration that the US commitment for Pakistan’s independence and security pursuant to the 1959 Bilateral Agreement is firm and enduring8 is welcome and we look forward to its reaffirmation by Congress. We would however, still prefer to substitute the Agreement by a Treaty which would serve a notice to the Soviet Union that the United States stands resolutely and fully committed to assist Pakistan if it is subjected to aggression. At the same time, I cannot conceal our apprehension over the distinction that may be drawn between the nature and extent of the US commitments to the security of the Persian Gulf as compared to Pakistan’s security under the 1959 Agreement. Dr Brzezinski assured me that the latter is specific to Pakistan and that the Carter doctrine9 is a “reinforcement” and “premium” to Pakistan. This would be so if we are assured that Pakistan is considered to fall within the geographical area of the Persian Gulf, even though countries have not been named.

The visit of Dr Brzezinski and Mr Warren Christopher has served to re-invigorate the friendship between our two countries and the joint statement issued at the end of our talks has been well received.10 Dr Brzezinski’s brilliant handling of the discussions on so many diverse and complicated issues and the very great understanding which he displayed throughout our talks have created a deep impression on us.

I thank you, Mr President, for your kind words on the success of the Islamic Foreign Ministers’ Conference to which Pakistan had the honour and privilege of playing host.11 The Conference is a high water mark in the consolidation of the unity of the Muslim world and reflects its growing strength and vitality.

Mr President, we deeply appreciate the personal interest which you have manifested in the security and stability of Pakistan. I wish to assure you that it will be our constant endeavour to explore with [Page 981] your Government all possible ways of attaining our common objective of regional peace, stability and prosperity. I have no doubt that in the years ahead our multi-faceted relationship forged over three decades of cooperation will be further strengthened so that it becomes a permanent and dependable instrument for the peace, stability and security of this region.

With profound regards and very good wishes,

Yours sincerely,12

M. Zia-ul-Haq
General
  1. Source: Department of State, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, David D. Newsom Subject Files, Lot 81D154, Box 15, Pakistan, February–October 1980. No classification marking. The salutation is handwritten↩
  2. See Document 422.↩
  3. See Document 406.↩
  4. See footnote 10, Document 408.↩
  5. See Document 141.↩
  6. See Document 171.↩
  7. In a February 9 memorandum to Secretary Brown, McGiffert reported the results of the U.S. military team’s February 2–7 visit to Pakistan. Among other exchanges, the Pakistani military officials gave the U.S. team a list of immediate needs. According to McGiffert: “This list prices out at about $3.5 billion; of this $800 million is for the Navy for items not related to the western front, $1.5 billion is for 66 F–16s and $400 million for I–HAWK. If we can come up with a more modest air defense program (see below) we should be able to construct a meaningful package in the range of $1.5–$2 billion.” The proposal for a more modest air defense system was presented later in the report. (Department of State, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, David D. Newsom Subject Files, Lot 81D154, Box 15, Pakistan, February–October 1980)↩
  8. See footnote 23, Document 423.↩
  9. See Document 16.↩
  10. See footnote 22, Document 423.↩
  11. See footnote 3, Document 422.↩
  12. Zia handwrote: “With profound regards and very good wishes, Yours sincerely.”↩