Pakistan: In Anguish, Not Anger

While Red China’s aggression was pushing India away from its historic policy of nonalignment, it had the ironic counter-effect of nudging once staunchly pro-Western Pakistan toward neutralism.

Pakistan-seemed far less concerned with the fact that the Chinese invasion posed a real threat to its own frontiers than with how the crisis would affect its bitter and longstanding dispute with India over control of Kashmir. Bitterly. Pakistan pointed to the crack Indian divisions still positioned along the U.N. cease-fire line as proof that India was exaggerating the extent of the Chinese incursions. Echoing influential Pakistani officials who labeled India the “aggressor” in the border conflict. President Ayub Khan said that “international Communism” was far less of a danger to Pakistan than “Hindu imperialism,” and that India was “inflating the present situation beyond proportion to get arms” from the U.S. and Britain.

Understandably enough, the Pakistanis feel that they might as well not have joined SEATO. since the unaligned Indians are getting arms from the U.S. without having had to join any alliances. Pakistan also argues that if Washington and London expected it to accept Indian rearmament and not to take advantage of India’s plight to invade Kashmir, then Nehru should have been required in turn to promise to settle the Kashmir issue. Although the U.S. got an Indian promise that the new arms would not be used against Pakistan, Ayub’s government refused to be reassured. Ayub warned Washington that its continued support of Nehru might force him to withdraw from both SEATO and CENTO, if they should prove “of no use” to Pakistan any longer.

Ayub was strongly seconded by his Foreign Minister, Mohammed Ali. Speaking “in anguish, not anger,” Ali told the National Assembly that “in the national interest we shall make friends—whoever is interested to accept our hand. If friends let us down, we shall not consider them as friends. Friends that stand by us, we will stand by.” He did not have to look far for new friends. From Peking came an offer from Chou En-lai for a nonaggression pact between Red China and Pakistan, as well as an invitation to Ali to visit the Chinese capital to discuss arbitration of the border problems between the two countries. With almost indecent haste, Ali accepted the invitation.