WASHINGTON: President Nixon welcomed Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to the White House Tuesday [Sept 18] and told him the independence and integrity of Pakistan is the cornerstone of American foreign policy. In response, Mr Bhutto (clad in his white People’s Party uniform) told Mr Nixon: “We know you are well acquainted with our problems. Some have said that recently your policy tilted towards Pakistan. Mr President, that was a tilt for justice and a tilt for equity.”

Both the President and the Prime Minister were referring … to the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war. … In his remarks … President Nixon said: our hearts have gone out to you in difficult times … You deserve the congratulations of the whole world for the way you have guided your country in the days after the devastating war. …

In his reply, Prime Minister Bhutto said he was “overwhelmed by the sentiments expressed by President Nixon and by the heart-warming welcome that he has received in the United States.”

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2023