Pakistan Base

With reference to Chaitanya Dave’s letter (Dec. 17), the base at Gwadar is intended mainly to protect the free flow of oil from the Persian Gulf and, incidentally, to prevent the Soviet troops in Afghanistan from running over the easy terrain of the Sind area of West Pakistan to establish a foothold on the shores of the Arabian Sea.

The free flow of oil will benefit not only the rich industrial countries but also all the poor Third-World countries. There is absolutely no possibility of the Islamic fundamentalist regime of Ayatollah Khomeini allowing the anti-religious communist Russia to enter his country to build a base on the Persian Gulf. Iranian youths are compelled to trample on the flag of not only the United States and Israel but also of the Soviet Union.

Pakistan is not an historical enemy of India. Both countries have a genuine dispute about the status of Kashmir. Recently, there was a rapprochement between Raji Gandhi and President Zia by signing an agreement that they will not attack each other’s nuclear facilities. They will follow this up by further negotiations shortly to finalize a “no-war pact” and to resolve their differences by peaceful means. President Zia has stated that if such bilateral agreements are successful he would review the necessity of purchasing U.S. armaments.

Is India such a strong naval power as to necessitate a naval base near it, in case the United States wants to threaten it, especially as the United States can easily move its fleet from Diego Garcia? In 1971, the United States moved its fleet to the Bay of Bengal, not to attack India, but to evacuate, if possible, the crack Pakistan troops when they were faced with annihilation in Bangladesh.

The very fact that Dave’s letter attacking U.S. policy has been published in a prominent newspaper in this country shows how liberal the Americans are regarding expressions of free opinions.

In case Dave happens to visit Moscow, and while there writes to Pravda condemning Soviet policy, not only will his letter not be published but the very next day he will be bundled out of the country. Maybe, (as Dave puts it) the American is a self-appointed policeman whose aim is to protect the weak from the designs of evil-doers.

S. SOMASUNDARAM

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