WASHINGTON: President Richard Nixon is understood to have shown appreciation of Pakistan’s great concern over the emerging nuclear threat in the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent, which President Yahya Khan expressed to him during their hour-long meeting at the White House ... on Sunday [Oct 25].

The Pakistan President told President Nixon that India’s projected nuclear explosion for so-called peaceful purposes represented a threat not only in the sub-continent but also throughout the region. The US President is believed to have reiterated America’s disinclination to see any expansion in the existing nuclear club. …

President Yahya explained to President Nixon Pakistan’s security problems against the background of the arms race unleashed by India and of the continuing disputes over Kashmir and Farakka barrage. … President Nixon reiterated his Government’s decision to make a one-time exception to the ban on supply of arms to India and Pakistan. This action signified the Nixon administration’s that the 1965 ban imposed by former President Johnson worked to the detriment of the Pakistani armed forces, who needed to replace their American equipment. …

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2020