Office of the Historian

110. Memorandum From Robert Komer of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)1

Washington, April 26, 1965.

Mac—

This Rann of Kutch business could build up to a real mess.

To oversimplify, the Paks found a good new place to lean on Indians—one where the terrain favored Pak side. The Indians reacted [Page 235] with their usual ineptitude, but at any rate both sides have built up to 6–7000 men and the Paks hold the forward position in the disputed area.

What worries State is that Indians are building up to a binge. They are determined not to let the Paks of all people get away with a Ladakh-type humiliation. So there’s a strong chance of Indian retaliation elsewhere, where the odds favor them more.

If this occurs, who knows what will happen. An Indian deputy foreign minister told the new UK High Commissioner, Freeman, that it might mean a major Pak/Indian war.2

We’re hesitant to weigh in too hard because neither Paks nor Indians are very friendly to us at the moment. Ergo, I’m plugging for UK,3 Commonwealth, and UN admonitory noises with us in a supporting role. If things take a turn for the worse, however, we may have to buy a share.

RWK
  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Pakistan, Vol. III, 12/64–7/65. Secret.↩
  2. In response to news reports that Pakistan had ordered the mobilization of its armed forces, the Department of State sent instructions to Karachi and New Delhi on April 25 to approach the governments and counsel restraint. (Telegram 1201 to Karachi, also sent to New Delhi as telegram 2228; National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, POL 32–1 INDIA–PAK)↩
  3. On April 27 Komer sent a note to Bundy to report that British Prime Minister Wilson had weighed in personally with Ayub and Shastri and proposed a cease-fire. (Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Pakistan, Vol. III, Memos, 12/64–7/65) The British démarche was reported in telegram 2033 from Karachi, April 27, and in telegram 3069 from New Delhi, April 28. (Ibid., Cables, 12/64–7/65; National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, POL 32–1 INDIA–PAK)↩