Office of the Historian

185. Telegram 268984 From the Department of State to the Mission to the United Nations and the Embassy in Pakistan1 2

Washington, December 7, 1974, 0011Z.

Subject:

  • Pakistani South Asia Nuclear-Free Zone Proposal

Ref:

  • State 263353; Islamabad 11264 (both NOTAL)

1. Under Secretary Sisco called Pakistani Amb Yaqub Dec 5 to inform him of result of review of US position on Pakistani Sanfz resolution in light of Yaqub’s request, in meeting with Sisco reported reftel, for change of vote from abstention to support. He told Yaqub that he had reviewed matter closely with all concerned offices in Department and that we were not able to change our position to one of support for the res in plenary vote. He added that Yaqub’s demarche did, however, make an impact and that the GOP’s concerns would certainly weigh in the balance in the future.

2. Amb Yaqub expressed appreciation for our review of the matter and noted that he realized issue was probably too far advanced for us to change position.

3. FYI. Basic conclusion of review was that US first committee position, based on undesirability of UNGA action on Sanfz proposal in light of very different approaches put forward in Pakistani and Indian reses, remains valid. We also have substantive problems with Pakistani res statement that a Sanfz would entail undertakings by nuclear-weapon states not to use or threaten the use of nuclear weapons and implicit assumption in res that parties would have right to development of indigenous PNE capability. Any explanation of changed vote we could give would have to be qualified by references to our concerns for full regional cooperation, acceptable treatment of PNE issue, and our reservations on non-use undertakings. Net result would most likely be to antagonize Indians without fully satisfying Pakistanis and without furthering Sanfz concept or constructively serving our broader non-proliferation objectives. In these circumstances, continued US abstention was considered best course. End FYI.

Kissinger
  1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy Files. Confidential. It was drafted by David Thompson (IO/UNP); cleared by IO, NEA/PAB, and ACDA/IR; approved by Arnold Raphel (P). It was repeated to New Delhi, Colombo, Katmandu, Kabul, Dhaka, Bonn, London, and NATO.↩
  2. The telegram summarized Under Secretary Sisco’s meeting with Ambassador Yaqub Khan on December 5 to explain the reasons why the United States would continue to abstain from voting on Pakistan’s proposal in the General Assembly for a South Asia Nuclear Free Zone.↩