Pakistan, the Soviet Union and China

Abstract

P AKISTAN 'S MEMBERSHIP IN SEATO AND CENTO has led to the impression especially in the United States, that this nation is solidly committed to the camp of the free nations in the Cold War. Such an assumption has, however, never been fully correct at any time since the birth of Pakistan. Her commitment to Western policies has been partial-in so far as it was expected to benefit national interests-and not always enthusiastic. For many years and particularly since about i960 the Pakistan government has tried to combine selective commitment to the West with better relations with the Communist world. What has therefore appeared to Westerners as ambiguity or opportunism in Pakistan's attitudes and policies, or at times as a desperate search for friends, has to Pakistan governments been nothing more than the application of a fundamentally independent policy, reflecting the changing needs of the nation and the changing conditions of international relations. No peril to the fundamental values of Pakistan was seen in these adjustments, even when they required closer connections with the Communist world. The belief is firmly held that the people's commitment to Islam is adequate immunization against Communism. Left to itself, Communism cannot thrive in Pakistan, stated the former Prime Minister Mohammed Ali. It had no chance as a rival to the Islamic A Dawn editorial affirmed that only an infantile optimist would believe that there can be any permanent reconciliation between Communism and Islam.1 For the reasons alone that Communism is anti-religious and Islam in the Soviet Union does not fare well-Russian propaganda in Pakistan to the contrary notwithstanding-an orthodox Muslim could not be a Communist. Furthermore, the basic value systems and philosophies of life of the two doctrines are so different and contradictory that one person could not embrace both ideologies at the same time. Nevertheless, in the summer of i962 observers of the Pakistani scene were fearful that but for the rule of President Ayub Khan the country might fall into chaos and become a victim of Communism. There are some features in the practice, if not in the theory, of Islam and Communism possessing similarities (at least outwardly) which could be quite appealing to a Muslim lacking sophistication or familiarity with Islamic ideology. Both creeds, for example, are concerned with life on earth. Islam and Communism therefore deal with economic existence and its control by