Soon after the East-Pakistan disaster, followed by the "1971 Winter war", Bhutto was hastily made President on 20 December 1971. After he was appointed President, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto summoned Aziz Ahmed out of retirement and appointed him Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Subsequently, Aziz Ahmed was regarded as one of Bhutto's closest confidantes and appointed Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs and finally as Foreign Minister for a few months, before the government was toppled in the military coup of 1977. Aziz Ahmed assisted in negotiating the Simla Agreement between Pakistan and India in 1972 and in organising the Islamic Summit at Lahore in 1974, where he headed Pakistan's delegation. As Minister of Defence, he played a key role in re-building Pakistan's defence capability after the 1971 war with India, as well as, the development of the Country's nuclear programme. Aziz convinced Richard Nixon to ensure the supply of weapons to Pakistan to counter Indian hegemony and weapons build-up.