82. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon1 2
SUBJECT:
- FY 1971 PL 480 Program for Pakistan
Acting Secretary Johnson (Tab A) requests your approval of a $72 million PL 480 Program for Pakistan for FY 1971. 800,000 tons of wheat and 100,000 tons of edible oil would be provided under the proposed agreement. As a result of budget limitations, the amount is less than the Pakistan request and less than the $87 million we provided last year. State, therefore, proposes to sign a smaller PL 480 agreement ($15–20 million) in the latter part of FY 71 to provide deliveries in the first quarter of FY 1972, Pakistan’s most critical supply period. This would assure Pakistan of our continuing support.
Nearly all the commodities provided will go to East Pakistan which, although having made some progress in its agricultural sector in the previous year, has had poor results with miracle rice and continues to be an area of extreme poverty. A large portion of the receipts generated under the program will be utilized for rural development projects to support East Pakistan’s agriculture. Our AID mission has made a major effort to develop around this program a broad-based attack on some of East Pakistan’s fundamental economic and social problems ranging from family planning to community organization and education.
The proposed amount is within your FY 71 budget. OMB (Tab B), Treasury and Agriculture concur in State’s request.
RECOMMENDATION:
That you approve the proposed $72 million PL 480 program for Pakistan for FY 1971.
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 624, Country Files, Middle East, Pakistan, Vol. III, 1 Oct 70–28 Feb 71. No classification marking. The memorandum is undated. Transmitted under an October 9 covering memorandum from C. Fred Bergsten of the NSC staff to Kissinger for submission to the President. Kissinger initialed the approval line of the memorandum for Nixon. Attached at Tab A but not published is a September 3 memorandum from Acting Secretary of State Johnson to the President, in which he recommended the proposed PL–480 program on behalf of the Departments of State, Agriculture, and the Treasury. Caspar Weinberger, Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget, concurred with Johnson’s recommendation in a September 26 memorandum to the President, attached at Tab B but not published. Also attached was an October 20 memorandum from NSC Staff Secretary Jeanne Davis to Eliot informing the Department of State of the President’s decision and instructing the Department not to inform Pakistan until after Nixon had met with Yahya in Washington on October 25.↩
- Nixon approved a $72 million proposed program of PL–480 commodities for Pakistan for fiscal year 1971.↩