Address at the Sargodha Air-base on December 9, 1972

President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto called for an integrated approach to solve the problems facing the country.

Addressing officers and men at Sargodha Air-base he said that there must be a fundamental objective before us. He said that he wanted the growth of society by a collective approach and understanding. There should be completed unity of thought and action, he added.

About relations with India, the President said that Pakistan did not want confrontation with India, but a just and equitable settlement of his disputes and to live in peace.

But, he said, that the choice was not ours alone. The other side should also realize the situation and act with a spirit of accommodation and understanding.

The president, however, said: “we must be on guard to save the honor of the country.”

The President assured that the Government would do its best to promote the interest of defence. He said defence and development, like anywhere in the world, were co-related.

The President said if the nation was advanced in development, it would be advanced in defence. This was what had happened in all prosperous and strong countries. They had got formidable defence because their development was considerable and colossal, he added.

The point was, the President said, that the two must go hand in hand and we would try to strike a balance, and that balance could be struck more readily with the common understanding and common approach.

“Both eyes must be open, the eye of peace and the eye of defence. Both hands must be active, the hand of peace and the hand of conflict.”

The President stressed the need for giving particular attention to the weakest factor, the weakest force and the weakest person of the social order as the success and strength of the nation really was to be determined where the weakest person or the weakest link in the chain was.

“We should see how weak the weakest is: from there we start gaining strength. If we see how strong is the top, the bottom will become hollow,” the president said.

The President said that the nation could vindicate its honor if it puts its house in order. “I am confident that we can put our house in order, if we can discipline ourselves, if we can work harder, if we can become a little less lazy, read more and learn a little more.”

If the people, the President pointed out, put all efforts and their shoulders to the wheel, at least in theory, they would be able to find the correct answer to all issues. Once a correct answer had been found in theory and there was no conflict among the people, he had no doubt in his mind that the national honor could be vindicated and that must be done, the President added.

The only way for the nation to move forward and progress, the President stressed, was the complete agreement of the people on the fundamental common denominator.

He said that an agreement, a genuine agreement on the fundamental objectives and the fundamental methods of achieving the objectives would enable the nation to progress its objectives both in time of peace and in time of war or crisis.

The nation, therefore, must arrive at the common point of agreement as to how it had to move forward in time of peace as well as in time of war, he said.

The President said that we want the growth of society and for that purpose the contribution of different sectors of the population in the form of a collective approach could lead us to a clear understanding of our society’s problems.