Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–7, Documents on South Asia, 1969–1972

115. National Security Study Memorandum 118¹ ²

Washington, February 16, 1971

TO:

• The Secretary of State
• The Secretary of Defense
• The Director of Central Intelligence.

SUBJECT:

• Contingency Study on Pakistan—Addendum to NSSM 109

The President has directed that an immediate contingency study be made of the alternative U.S. postures toward a possible move in East Pakistan toward secession.

The emphasis in this study should be on contingency planning in preparation for possible decisions that might be necessary in the near future. Longer range U.S. policy toward Pakistan should continue to be considered within the framework of NSSM 109 (Policy Study on South Asia). This contingency study should be fully compatible with the study being prepared in response to NSSM 109 and should be designed to become an annex to it if it is not needed sooner.

The study should be done under the direction of the Chairman NSC IG/NEA and forwarded to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs by February 26, 1971.

Henry A. Kissinger

1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 365, Subject Files, National Security Study Memoranda, Nos. 104–206. Secret; Exdis. A copy was sent to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
2. Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Henry Kissinger, on behalf of the President, instructed the Departments of State and Defense and the CIA to prepare a contingency study examining the options open to the U.S. in the event of a movement toward secession in East Pakistan.