689.90D/11–452
Memorandum by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs ( Jernegan ) to the Under Secretary of State (Bruce)
Subject:
- Pushtoonistan Question with Pakistani Ambassador
Several days ago you asked me whether it would not be a good idea for you to call in the Pakistani Ambassador and talk to him about the possibility of arranging for discussions between Pakistanis and the Afghans on the Pushtoonistan question. As you will recall, the Pushtoonistan question is a subject very much on the minds of the Afghans who have taken it up both with you and the Secretary in New York.
On investigation, I find that SOA does not believe it would be helpful to broach the matter to the Pakistanis at the present time. Past experience, it seems, has shown that they will resolutely refuse to consider any discussion of this question, which directly affects the territorial integrity of Pakistan. A little less than a year ago we made a suggestion to both parties that they sit down to talk about the problem and we offered our good offices.1 The Afghans accepted but the Pakistanis gave us a flat rejection and were extremely resentful of what they considered to be our gratuitous intervention. It took us some time to get off the hook.
A further consideration is that in our view the Afghan position is an unreasonable one, and if we urge discussion between the parties it will be taken by the Afghans as encouragement.
In the light of the foregoing, it seems best to me to let this question rest so far as the Pakistanis are concerned until and unless there is some new and hopeful development.