Evening star., 1950-04-30
Prime Minister'S
Visit Provides
Good Opportunity
By Creston B. Mullins

py SteStoH .. NNutttu3
The state visit of Pakistan' 8
Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan
to Washington this week, long
hoped for in Capital diplomatic
circles, provides the American Gov
ernment the opportunity to cement
relations with a country which Is
in an increasingly strategic po-
sition for us.
Pakistan, the product Of a long
struggle by the Moslems OF the
Asiatic subcontinent for a father
land of their own and Of the Brit
ish governments compromise in
partition of India, occupies those
lands on the northwest and north
east borders of India which could
be critical in any Asiatic unheaval.
When the Prime Minister and
the Begun Liaquat Ali arrive in
Washington Wednesday they will
be the center of round Of fes-
tivities which will attract the at
tention not only of official Wash
ington but of a large part of the
country. A transcontinental tour
has been arranged for them when
they leave here Saturday.
Likewise their state visit to
President Truman will be watched
closely wherever the press and ra-
dio penetrate in Pakistan and, in
deed, in India.
The visit being ceremonial and
not for the primary purpose of
diplomatic negotiation, no agenda
has been devised. There will be no
formal conversations between the
Pakistan chief and the American
officials. There will, however, be
plenty of opportunity for chatty,
informal discussion, both of PAX
istan's problems and her place in
the world, of the kind that can
produce great understanding.
One aspect of Liaquat Ali
Khan's visit is pleasing to Ameri-
can officials. 1t is that his visit
here does not follow-as was origi-
nally scheduled-a similar state
visit to Moscow. The Prime Minis
ter was invited to Moscow nearly
a year ago and accepted the invi-
tation. but since then nothing has
happened.
Wants to Be Understood
The Prime Minister does not
come to Washington with his hand
out for American largess. He is
on no mission of appealing for
American dollars or American
supplies. What he does want is
American understanding of PAX
istan's problems, both political and
economic, and of its position in
world politics, for Pakistan faces
certain geopolitical realities which
all the wishing in the world can
not conjure away.
Pakistan is not nation at rest
and in complete peace with her
neighbors. Pakistan is a nation
at work, striving to complete the
task of building an efficient gov
ernment for 100000 people who
inhabit her divided territories.
Coming into existence less than
three years ago, she had prac-
tically nothing of the machinery
of government - buildings, per-
sonnel and fiscal system. All
these have been erected or are
being erected
The domestic problem of in
augurating and carrying on the
work of government over a nation
which is twice the size of France
and which never knew self-gov-
ernment before has been tre-
mendous, but has been matched
by Pakistan's problems in its re-
lations with its neighbors.
Because of the manner of it's
creation, Pakistan's principal diff
culties have been with India,
whose vast superiority in numbers
many of whom are agressively
hostile to Pakistan-casts a con-
slant shadow over the Moslem
nation.
It was communal hostility be-
tween Moselm and Hindu which
made illusory the hope of welding
India and PakiStan into a single
nation and which foredoomed
every kind of solution for old In