Has Any Pakistani Leader Ever Received a Warm Washington Welcome Like Modi's?
By Riaz Haq
CA

 

After watching the Indian Prime Minister   Narendra Modi 's welcome in Washington last week, one of my blog readers asked me the following question: "Has any Pakistani leader ever received a warm Washington welcome like Modi's?"

The answer is: Yes, President Ayub Khan of Pakistan did receive   a much bigger and warmer welcome in America   than Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week. Before I describe it, let me try and put things in perspective for my readers.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger of the United States has often been quoted as saying: “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.”

 Let's interpret Kissinger's quote to explain the crux of the   shifting alliances   since the end of the US-Soviet Cold War in the early 1990s. The United States needed Pakistan to counter the Soviet influence in Asia until the late-1980s. Today,  America needs India to check the   rise of China   as a great superpower which is seen challenging the United States, the sole superpower now.
Even as the Obama administration courts Modi, top US officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, are in Beijing for a   "Strategic and Economic Dialogue" .  This is an acknowledgment of the fact that the US and China are the two largest economies in the world.  The American Treasury Secretary has described the   US-China relationship   as "the most important economic relationship in the world."
Meanwhile, Pakistan is drawing close to China to broaden its   strategic relationship   with stronger economic and military ties.   Joint military programs   like the JF-17 Thunder combat jet and the $46 billion   China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)   are manifestations of this relationship.

Now, let me describe in a little more detail Pakistani President Ayub Khan's 1961 visit to the United States. The fact is Modi's reception pales in comparison to how a Pakistani leader was received during the Cold War.
The Pakistani President was extended the rare honor of being welcomed by the US President and the First Lady at the airport when the PIA airplane carrying him landed at the Andrews Air Force Base near Washington DC.
He was also given the privilege of addressing a special Joint Session of the US Congress on Capitol Hill where he received standing ovation. Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was the first Pakistani leader to address a session of the US Congress back in 1950. Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto also addressed a joint session of the US Congress in 1989.
There was a state dinner in Ayub's honor hosted by President and Mrs Kennedy at Mount Vernon, the historic residence of  America's founding father and first president, George Washington.  
Later, he was hosted at a dinner by New York City mayor after he rode an open top car in a ticker-tape parade through the Big Apple with tens of thousands of New Yorkers lining the parade route and cheering him on.
Then President Ayub visited The Alamo in Texas where Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson hosted him for a Texas style barbecue. Ayub Khan addressed joint houses of the Texas legislature.
On his way back, the then UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden hosted a dinner in his honor before President Ayub returned to Pakistan.
The fact is Modi's reception pales in comparison with what the Pakistani leader was given during the Cold War.
Here's a video of President Ayub Khan's US visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cF72JeKtI