....to turn their backs to the armed conflicts, an opportunity to keep up peaceful relationship; I have no doubt that if this opportunity is willy-nilly or deliberately thrown away by any country, the consequences of it on both the countries will be terrible, and I have no doubt about it. No country plans for war. I think in the modern world every country plans for peace but peace with preparedness. So, naturally, when this opportunity came, we had to accept the position.
But at the same time we cannot forget what is happening after Tashkent today. Certain new realities are appearing on the horizon. We know that China never liked Tashkent because Tashkent was a sort of reversal of the policy that they want to follow in the world, and particularly in this part of the world. If I may say so, the Tashkent Declaration was a sort of slap in their face. But today what we find is that they are trying to incite Pakistan. From the statements and speeches that we hear from some of the leaders of Pakistan, it seems that there is a growing element in Pakistan which does not like Tashkent.
That may he so. The Chinese are, really speaking, trying to fish in troubled waters and trying to interfere in Kashmir which is entirely our own internal question.
It is in the interest of Chinese policy to weaken the forces which led to Tashkent, and it is, therefore, that they are trying to take to weaken or trying to take away or persuade or tempt Pakistan away from Tashkent. I hope and trust that the Chinese do not succeed; I hope and trust that the Pakistan leadership sees the truth of the game does not fall a victim to this thing, because peaceful relation between our two countries is in the interest of both the countries. What both the countries need is economic development. What both countries need is the development of the human material in their countries, and this can be done only on the basis of peaceful relations between these two countries.
As far as we are concerned, I have no doubt in my mind that we want to stand steadfast to the Declaration of Tashkent.
But, I must say at the same time that we cannot be complacent; if there are any forces which are going to attempt to cow us down to any position, possibly, they are `counting without the hosts’ as they say.
This country would not be forced into accepting any position which it cannot accept. That position will have to be maintained. But we shall have to keep in mind that the threat of the Chinese does continue, and it continues in a more menacing way, as I have said, because they are, and their tendency to fish in troubled waters was repeated again in 1965 when the Pakistan aggression was on. They made a childish attempt at sending us an ultimatum, and a further childish effort to withdraw that ultimatum. The second attempt is going on at Rawalpindi today. It is a very tragic thing that the Chinese Armed Forces, the Chinese weapons and the Chinese tanks and the Chinese aeroplanes are paraded on the streets of Rawalpindi, but the comedy of the tragedy is that some of the American weapons which were used, and which were manufactured to contain the Chinese are also paraded along with them. Unfortunately, that is the comedy of the tragedy of it.