Australian National University THESES SIS/LIBRARY TELEPHONE: +61 2 6125 4631 R.G. MENZIES LIBRARY BUILDING NO:2 FACSIMILE: +61 2 6125 4063 THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY EMAIL: [email protected] CANBERRA ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA USE OF THESES This copy is supplied for purposes of private study and research only. Passages from the thesis may not be copied or closely paraphrased without the written consent of the author. THE MILITARY AND FOREIGN POLICY IN PAKISTAN: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO PAKISTAN-SOVIET RELATIONS 1947-1971 Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the Australian National University Samina Ahmed June 1988 This thesis is my own original work s l m - J i 'A l i K /V u - d SAMINA AHMED (i) ACKNQWLECXSEMENTS I wish to express my thanks to the Department of Political Science for having provided me the opportunity of working on the thesis. I am especially indebted to Mr G. Jukes for his critical comments and his valuable advice on draft after draft of the thesis. I am very grateful for his assistance and support throughout the course of my work. I would also like to thank Mr J. Richardson and Dr T. Smith for their useful comments on various drafts of the thesis. Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to my family and to friends and colleagues, both in Pakistan and Australia, for their support and encouragement. PRECIS The thesis is a study of the role of the Pakistan military in foreign policy, with particular emphasis on the linkages between defence and foreign policy, using relations with the Soviet Union to demonstrate the extent to which the military has dominated Pakistan's external directions from independence in 1947 to the country’s dismemberment in 1971. From the very start, Pakistan's political leadership, military and bureaucracy adopted an anti-Soviet and pro-Western foreign policy, with the military showing particular interest in establishing defence links with the West. Pakistan-Soviet relations were therefore tense as Pakistan ignored Soviet overtures, motivated by the Soviet desire to curb Western influence in a strategically placed country. Pakistan-Soviet tensions reached their peak as Pakistan formally entered into anti-Soviet alliances with the West. Internal developments guided Pakistan's foreign policy, with the military dictating the country's domestic and external orientations. Internally, the Wlitary High Command exercised power in partnership with the bureaucracy, as bureaucratic-controlled governments advanced the military's interests. Pakistan's uncertain external environment, particularly its conflictual relations with India, advanced the military's internal standing as it was used to justify ever-increasing defence spending. As the military's autonomy grew, it embarked on independent, although parallel, efforts with the bureaucracy to obtain Pakistan's entry into US-sponsored regional pacts, motivated by its desire to obtain Western arms assistance. While Pakistan's entry into the pacts and rejection of Soviet overtures led the antagonised Soviets into supporting India and Afghanistan in their disputes with Pakistan, the main beneficiary of alignment was the military as US military aid poured into the country, further strengthening the Pakistan Armed Forces' internal position. Close links with the US in turn reinforced the anti-Soviet and pro-Western views of the Pakistan officer corps. The military took over direct power in 1958 when its i'nternal autonomy and Pakistan's pro-Western foreign policy directions were threatened by domestic opposition. It then moved to consolidate its position by supporting Ayub's rule and in the external sphere continued to dictate a pro-Western and anti-Soviet foreign policy. However, external determinants such as superpower detente and US partiality towards India downgraded Pakistan's importance in American regional strategies, forcing Ayub to readjust his foreign policy rhetoric. He then attempted to use the Chinese and Soviet cards, hoping to pressure the Americans to revise their policies vis-à-vis Pakistan, especially in the wake of the US arms embargo in 1965. Although Pakistan-Soviet relations improved as the Soviet Union reacted positively, motivated by its desire to curb Chinese and Western influence in Pakistan, tensions remained due to Ayub's continued efforts to consolidate relations with the West. Ayub’s failure to persuade the Americans to resume arms assistance, combined with dissatisfaction arising from the conduct and aftermath of the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war, led the military to withdraw its support as internal opposition grew to Ayub's authoritarian rule. Army C-in-C Yahya Khan then took over power as Martial Law was imposed in 1969. Under Yahya, the military once again kept its options open vis-à-vis the Soviet Union as long as the Americans downgraded Pakistan's importance as an ally, although Pakistan's primary foreign policy objective remained a strengthening of relations with the West, with an emphasis on a revival of defence links with the US. Once US global interests, including Pakistan's role in helping the Americans to open relations with the PRC, led to the establishment of closer US-Pakistan relations, the Yahya regime downgraded relations with the Soviet Union. Pakistan's foreign policy directions assumed a new significance in the wake of the East Pakistan crisis, as the Soviets supported India during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, while Pakistan's American and Chinese allies only extended it limited support. Yahya's shortsighted internal and external directions ultimately led to the dismemberment of Pakistan. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 PAKISTAN-SOVIET RELATIONS: THE INITIAL YEARS (1947-1951) 18 3 THE PARLIAMENTARY ERA, THE MILITARY AND FOREIGN POLICY (1951 -1955) 97 4 THE ISKANDER MIRZA YEARS (1955-1958) 167 5 MARTIAL LAW IN PAKISTAN (1958-1962) 236 6 THE MILITARY IN MUFTI (1962-1969) 311 7 THE YAHYA REGIME AND THE DISMEMBERMENT OF PAKISTAN 417 8 CONCLUSION 491 BIBLIOGRAPHY 503 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION When I started work on my doctoral dissertation, I had intended to focus on Pakistan's relations with the Soviet Union. Soon after I had begun researching the topic, it became evident that any examination of Pakistan's foreign policy was incomplete without a detailed understanding of the linkages between the external and internal variables of foreign policy making in Pakistan. The focus of my thesis increasingly shifted to the role of the military as a major actor not only in Pakistani politics but also in the realm of foreign policy. Domestic politics in Pakistan are characterised by one constant factor, the influence and power demonstrated by the military, with the country experiencing direct military rule for over half of its existence. An examination of Pakistan's political history also reveals that the Pakistani military has been a powerful force even when it has not been in direct control. Given that the military has played a singularly important role in politics, it then seemed logical to inquire into the extent and significance of its role in influencing and determining the direction of Pakistan's foreign policy. An assessment of the military's role in foreign policy in turn drew attention to the importance of its conception of security and defence concerns in shaping Pakistan's external relationships. During the course of the study the military emerged as a major domestic variable in determining not only Pakistan's foreign policy but also 2 the direction of its defence policy, with a stress on the need for 'security' through the acquisition of military assistance. It also became increasingly evident that Pakistan's foreign policy was to a considerable extent an offshoot of defence policy as perceived and formulated by the military establishment, with the institution's orientations, needs and requirements given precedence over all other concerns. The focus of this thesis is, therefore, on the role of the military in foreign policy, with particular emphasis on the linkages between defence and foreign policy, using Pakistan's relations with the Soviet Union to demonstrate the manner in which the military has dominated the country's external directions. The existing state of scholarship on the Pakistani military is somewhat uneven. While some books and articles have been written on the military’s role in politics since independence,1 very little work has been done on the military's role in foreign policy. The academic debate on Pakistan's foreign policy, especially since the breakup of the state in 1971, is increasingly recognising the necessity of examining domestic variables in influencing Pakistan's external directions. There is even acknowledgment of the need to determine the military's role in foreign policy.^ Yet while most analysts of Pakistan's foreign policy and domestic politics conclude that the Pakistan military plays a "very influential role in shaping both the domestic and foreign policy" of Pakistan,^ and that the military has been a significant component in the decision-making apparatus, especially where decisions regarding foreign and defence policies are concerned, there has been no indepth effort to determine the military's influence and role in the field of foreign policy. 3 Similarly while there is general agreement that security has always been of prime concern to Pakistani policy makers;4 that the issue of arms assistance is of primary importance to foreign policy form ulationand that the military plays a predominant role in the assessment of strategic requirements and defence policy,6 no real effort has been made to ascertain the military's role in influencing the adoption of foreign and defence policy options, aimed at fulfilling, above all, the requirements of the Armed Forces for military assistance. Although some research has been undertaken on the military's role in determining and influencing Pakistan's relations with the West, with particular emphasis on Pakistan-US relations,7 no work has been conducted on the implications of the military's role in domestic, foreign and defence policy making for Pakistan-Soviet relations.