Critical Triangle continues.....

Evidently this was ignored because the very next week Zulfikar Ali Bhutto claimed in a national assembly debate that any India Pakistan war would involve the “largest state in Asia” indicating
some sort of defence compact with China. By the time Lyndon Johnson took over the presidency, relations with Pakistan had frayed considerably. Compounding this, Ayub Khan had decided to play a “triangular tightrope” strategy spanning the US, USSR and PRC. Johnson was determined to sabotage this strategy and cancelled Ayub Khan’s trip to Washington claiming, “I have reluctantly come to the view that this month is not a good time for the two of us to meet in Washington. Your visit at this time would focus public attention on the differences between Pakistan and the US policy toward Communist China.”

However, the outbreak of the 1965 India-Pakistan war again changed the equation. With Johnson entangled in Vietnam, the US encouraged the Soviets to mediate the end to that war, which saw a warming of Soviet Pakistan ties. In effect the main plank of Johnson’s opposition to Ayub’s triangular tightrope had ended.

Afghanistan’s options, however, were narrowing. Given the existence of the Northern Tier and its own lack of inclusion in the same, Afghanistan’s only breakout options had been the USSR and China, and now even that had been reduced to one. Given Ayub’s thrust in improving ties with the USSR, even that one option would have seemed shaky. Anyone sitting in Kabul would have perceived Afghanistan’s encirclement as complete.

To be continued.....