DiplomacyThe alliance era
Suhrawardy defends the alliance in Washington
An East Pakistani prime minister who had championed the western alliances at home came to Washington and addressed both houses of Congress.
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What happened
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the Bengali leader of the Awami League, became prime minister in September 1956 at the head of a coalition1. Unusually for a politician from East Pakistan, where opposition to military alliances was strong, he defended Pakistan's membership of SEATO and the Baghdad Pact2.
In July 1957 he made an official visit to the United States. He was received by President Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles at the White House, and American records include a memorandum of his conversation in Washington on 10 July3. He addressed both houses of Congress, and on 13 July the two leaders issued a joint statement after discussions on what it called a wide range of problems involving the maintenance of freedom and security, including American military and economic assistance4. The next day he appeared on the CBS programme Face the Nation1.
Why it mattered
The visit showed that support for the alliance in Pakistan was not confined to the army and the West Pakistani establishment. But Suhrawardy's government was short-lived: he was forced to resign in October 1957, and a year later Pakistan's parliamentary system was swept away by martial law1,2.
Sources
- Huseyn Suhrawardy, Wikipedia · Reference
- The United States and Pakistan, 1947–2000: Disenchanted Allies (Dennis Kux), Woodrow Wilson Center Press / Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001 · Scholarly
- Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Volume VIII, Document 59: Memorandum of a Conversation, Washington, July 10, 1957, Office of the Historian, US Department of State, 10 July 1957 · Primary document
- Joint Statement Following Discussions With Prime Minister Suhrawardy of Pakistan, The American Presidency Project, UC Santa Barbara, 13 July 1957 · Primary document
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