US advised Pakistan not to fight the USSR in 1979 but Pakistan wanted revenge for the 1971 war

[SABRE]

good that we took the initiative, or powerful pro-soviet Afghanistan and india on the other side would have been the end of us

In the 1970s (after 1971), the Soviet antagonism with Pakistan had been considerably pacified. In fact, they began extending cooperation and set up the Pakistan Steel Mill. Soviet leadership was also not too happy about India's 1974 nuclear tests and they decided to open up to Pakistan. Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was, in fact, an opportunity for Pakistan to exploit Soviet influence on Afghanistan to resolve outstanding issues in the Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship. But the regime of the 1980s instead changed the diplomatic positions of the 1970s and decided to re-antagonize relations with the Soviets for extracting economic and military aid from the U.S. Even as the Pakistani government of the 1980s was aggressively working to undermine Soviet interests in Afghanistan the Soviet Union was still open to cooperation and offered several high-level deals. They set up Guddu Thermal Powerstation offered to set up export-oriented industries, and more importantly provide nuclear reactors.

 

[SIPRA]

Major Amir's revelations shall be taken with a pinch of salt.

 

[SaadH]

I forgt the name of the person but a guy who was in charge at that time (for dialog btw ISI and Talibans) stated a similar thing that there was a problem btw Russia and Pakistan. That was one of the core reasons why Pakistan go little beyond its......... I guess it was Kashif Abbasi Program back in Nov

Brigadier Mohammad Yousuf who also authored the best work on the subject, "Bear Trap". I recommend everyone to read that book in order to get an authentic unbiased account of the Afghan war and Pakistan's involvement in it. Also to refute the modern day revisionists who keep harping on about how it wasn't our war to fight.

In the 1970s (after 1971), the Soviet antagonism with Pakistan had been considerably pacified. In fact, they began extending cooperation and set up the Pakistan Steel Mill. Soviet leadership was also not too happy about India's 1974 nuclear tests and they decided to open up to Pakistan. Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was, in fact, an opportunity for Pakistan to exploit Soviet influence on Afghanistan to resolve outstanding issues in the Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship. But the regime of the 1980s instead changed the diplomatic positions of the 1970s and decided to re-antagonize relations with the Soviets for extracting economic and military aid from the U.S. Even as the Pakistani government of the 1980s was aggressively working to undermine Soviet interests in Afghanistan the Soviet Union was still open to cooperation and offered several high-level deals. They set up Guddu Thermal Powerstation offered to set up export-oriented industries, and more importantly provide nuclear reactors.

Yeah that pacification somehow included support for the Baloch insurgents

 

[R Wing]

Gen Zia was class,
he left very big shoes, that till date are unfilled.

LOL.

If your idea of class is a legacy of a weird version of Islam, great.

But credit is due for aggressively continuing the nuclear weapons program and supporting various insurgencies in India.

Major Amir's revelations shall be taken with a pinch of salt.

Exactly.

 

[MultaniGuy]

Well the Soviets did support India in the 1971 war.

Good we returned the favor to them.

 

[Genghis khan1]

Here's an interesting interview of Major (retd) Muhammad Amir of Inter-services Intelligence (ISI) with Shahid Masood, aired on 5 September 2021.

Major Sahib explains that Pakistan had considered Soviet Union as it's main enemy and that it was the Soviet Union which was responsible for the break up of Pakistan in 1971.

He goes onto say that the US and the Soviet Union had an understanding in 1979. Which was that the Soviet Union will look the other way while the US topples the pro-Soviet President Idi Amin in Uganga and in return, the US will not be too critical of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Pakistan's Inter-services Intelligence (ISI) had found out that the Soviets were planning an invasion of Afghanistan and it informed President Zia-ul-Haq in June 1979, who in turn then wrote to President Jimmy Carter in July 1979. However, the US President did not respond due to the above mentioned understanding between the US and USSR.

The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 and President Jimmy Carter wowed to defend the Persian Gulf in January 1980 (without committing any soldiers).

The US did send it's National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski to Pakistan in February 1980. His advice to President Zia-ul-Haq was, "Not to engage the Soviet Union in Afghanistan." Instead, the US would provide $400 million to Pakistan to fortify it's border with Afghanistan so there's no fallout on the Pakistan side.

President Zia-ul-Haq rejected the offer and instead told the US National Security Adviser, "Thank you very much for the nice advice. You may now go and relax. We will not only engage the Soviet forces but we will drive them back (out of Afghanistan)."

The next day, President Zia-ul-Haq ordered the military to act swiftly against the Soviet forces before they could fortify their positions on the Pak-Afghan border.

Pakistan confronted the Soviet war machine on its own for around 2-years before the US finally stepped in with military assistance to Pakistan.

The nearly decade long war took it's toll on the Soviet Union, eventually leading to the dissolution of the Empire and creating 11 independent nations in its place

Please watch from 16:00 onwards.

I have to admit I've always heard from the civilian and the military establishment that Pakistan was used by the United States in the 1980s instead of Pakistan actually wanting to take on the Soviet Union to take revenge for the 1971 war.

…and for that reason. I wouldn’t trust Putin.

 

[Sinnerman108]

LOL.

If your idea of class is a legacy of a weird version of Islam, great.

But credit is due for aggressively continuing the nuclear weapons program and supporting various insurgencies in India.



Exactly.

how old are you again ?

 

[Joe Shearer]

Major Amir's revelations shall be taken with a pinch of salt.

I am surprised that more members besides you and @R Wing have not called out this fanciful fairy tale with its even more fanciful verbiage.

By all accounts, the General was at pains to be polite, to a point of excess, with everybody, and never showed his hand until it was too late for the others to react. It sounds extremely unlikely that as he was, a military dictator who had been bitterly criticised the world over for his execution of a duly elected political leader who was in his own right known the world over, he should have taken the abrasive and sneering tone that is reported.

It is quite another matter that the military establishment in Pakistan should have been imbued with a revanchist spirit. This is not unusual, and should not be discounted. What is questionable is the reporting of the incident, if it occurred at all.

On the Afghanistan matter, my own thought is that old saying, "Be careful what you pray for; you may get it." If it had not been for the utterly incompetent government that we have for our country, led by a Class 6 drop-out and a dreary bunch soaked with Islamophobia until they are unable to think rationally, India should today have been in a better position in Afghanistan than many others, given that there are old fault-lines that will now be visible as the surface of military activity sinks down lower.

…and for that reason. I wouldn’t trust Putin.

View attachment 816441

It's a photograph, nothing to get angry about.

 

[SIPRA]

I am surprised that more members besides you and @R Wing have not called out this fanciful fairy tale with its even more fanciful verbiage.

By all accounts, the General was at pains to be polite, to a point of excess, with everybody, and never showed his hand until it was too late for the others to react. It sounds extremely unlikely that as he was, a military dictator who had been bitterly criticised the world over for his execution of a duly elected political leader who was in his own right known the world over, he should have taken the abrasive and sneering tone that is reported.

It is quite another matter that the military establishment in Pakistan should have been imbued with a revanchist spirit. This is not unusual, and should not be discounted. What is questionable is the reporting of the incident, if it occurred at all.

On the Afghanistan matter, my own thought is that old saying, "Be careful what you pray for; you may get it." If it had not been for the utterly incompetent government that we have for our country, led by a Class 6 drop-out and a dreary bunch soaked with Islamophobia until they are unable to think rationally, India should today have been in a better position in Afghanistan than many others, given that there are old fault-lines that will now be visible as the surface of military activity sinks down lower.


It's a photograph, nothing to get angry about.

Agree.

BTW, how are you now? A few days ago, you said that you are not feeling well. My good wishes.

 

[Joe Shearer]

Agree.

BTW, how are you now? A few days ago, you said that you are not feeling well. My good wishes.

I have my good days and my bad days. I have been enjoying your posts, and wondering why I had not been more attentive of them. My ill-health takes it toll in more than the physical sense.

 

[Genghis khan1]

It's a photograph, nothing to get angry about.

No one is getting angry.

 

[SIPRA]

I have my good days and my bad days. I have been enjoying your posts, and wondering why I had not been more attentive of them. My ill-health takes it toll in more than the physical sense.

Allah aap ko mukammal sehat day.

 

[Joe Shearer]

No one is getting angry.
View attachment 816454

Ah, an artist at Photoshop.

Have you considered a career with Amit Malaviya and his BJP Information Cell?

Allah aap ko mukammal sehat day.

Grateful thanks.

 

[SIPRA]

Grateful thanks.

I am myself 63. I feel that, after 60, road of existence becomes somewhat bumby, with ups and downs, both physically and psychologically. Sometimes, it seems that we are living in an illusionary delusion.

"Ho gaye muzmahil qawa Ghalib
Ab anaaser main aitidaal kahaan"

 

[Pakistan Space Agency]

It is quite another matter that the military establishment in Pakistan should have been imbued with a revanchist spirit. This is not unusual, and should not be discounted. What is questionable is the reporting of the incident, if it occurred at all. ...

As reported back in March 1980:

US worry: what to do now after Pakistani aid rejection

As Soviet forces strengthen their positions in Afghanistan, the Carter administration faces the worrisome problem of getting adequate military aid

www.csmonitor.com

Plenty of other articles also available on Google from that era of the "incident".