Ayub’s Foreign Policy – From Alliance to Equidistance

The departure of President Ayub from the Pakistani scene after a decade of almost unchallenged supremacy provides us with an opportune moment for the evaluation of his contribution in the sphere of Pakistan’s foreign policy. Like every other sphere of Pakistani life, the foreign policy of Pakistan, as it has developed over the last decade, has been primarily the handiwork of President Ayub.

We should disabuse our minds from the outset from the notion that President Ayub Khan’s 10 years in office had brought about any basic rethinking as far as the fundamental objectives of Pakistan’s foreign policy are concerned. These objectives remained the same during the Ayub period as they had during the pre-Ayub days.