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Pakistan
Early Foreign Policy
Pakistan's early foreign policy espoused nonalignment. Despite
disputes with India, the policies of the two countries were similar:
membership in the Commonwealth of Nations; no commitment to either
the United States or the Soviet Union; and a role in the UN.
Pakistan's foreign policy stance shifted significantly in 1953
when it accepted the United States offer of military and economic
assistance in return for membership in an alliance system designed
to contain international communism. When the administration of
Dwight D. Eisenhower sought a series of alliances in the "Northern
Tier"--Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey--and in East Asia, Pakistan
became a candidate for membership in each. In 1954 Pakistan signed
a Mutual Defense Agreement with the United States and became a
member of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). The
following year, Pakistan joined Iran, Iraq, and Turkey in the
Baghdad Pact, later converted into the Central Treaty Organization
(CENTO) after Iraq's withdrawal in 1959. Pakistan also leased
bases to the United States for intelligence-gathering and communications
facilities. Pakistan saw these agreements not as bulwarks against
Soviet or Chinese aggression, but as a means to bolster itself
against India.
Data as of April 1994
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