WASHINGTON: US President Richard Nixon told Congress on Wednesday [Feb 18] that over the decade of the 1970s, “US, India and Pakistan and their friends should work together to avert further wasteful and dangerous conflicts” in South Asia. In his first annual foreign policy report, President Nixon said the United States stands ready to help India and Pakistan in co-operating for progress. He said, however, that good relations with the two major Powers in the sub-continent should not obscure the concrete dilemmas that the US will face. “How can we bring home to both, for example, our serious concern over the waste of their recourses in an arms race, yet recognise their legitimate interests in self-defence,” he asked.

The United States has promised to review Pakistan’s request for a resumption of arms assistance which was halted following the brief 1965 Indo-Pakistan war. No decision has yet been announced in the policy review,

“The one-fifth of mankind who live in India and Pakistan can make the difference for the future of Asia,” the President said. “If the nation-building surmounts the centrifugal forces that have historically divided the sub-continent, if their economic growth keeps pace with popular demands, and if they can avert further costly rivalry between themselves, India and Pakistan can contribute their vast energies to the structure of a stable peace.” — Agency

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2020