Speech at a banquet given in honor of Princes Ashraf Pahlavi at Quetta

On behalf of the people of Pakistan, we welcome your Royal Highness to Pakistan and we all know princess Ashraf Pahlavi is no stranger to our country. She has come to Quetta on what I regard an important and significant visit.

In Pakistan we are trying to establish a sense of national direction and national consolidation. But there are many people and many forces opposed to this objective. I would be the last person to deny or hide facts from our people or from our Royal guest whom we regard truly to be one of us.

Today, while the whole of Baluchistan, all the people of this region were rejoicing over the visit of Her Royal Highness, while we all gathered here from Islamabad, from capitals of our provinces to accord her friends and compatriots a warm and tumultuous welcome reception, there are many forces working against this visit and this objective. Not our own forces, not our own internal forces because we are collaborating to salvage the debris that we had to inherit.

Nevertheless, I do not want to go into details but efforts were made to frustrate this visit and to make this visit not as successful as the people of Pakistan wanted it to be.

I want to assure your highness that our people, all of them, were eagerly, looking forward to your visit and are still eagerly looking to meet you, making acquaintance with you because they can never forget Iran. Your Government. His Imperial Majesty Shahinshah of Iran have stood by Pakistan since its inception in very crisis, in every difficulty and in every vicissitude culminating in last year’s war which we had in the subcontinent.

So, I want to tell you that we with all our hearts welcome you to Pakistan on the soil of Baluchistan and that all our people want to see your visit there as a memorable success. We are determined, come what may, whatever the forces are, from where they emanate that is not important, we shall frustrate their efforts, to bring any iota of misunderstanding between our two peoples because our two peoples are imperishably linked by geography, by history, faith, culture and race. So, come what may, they are determined to make your visit a success.

We will not allow these and forlorn conspiracies to succeed. I request the Government of Baluchistan to rally round, irrespective of the consequences. As far as I am concerned, Mr. Governor, I am determined to hold my public meeting on the 21st May in Quetta and if I had to hold it alone, I will hold that meeting alone. The whole effort has been to prevent that public meeting from being held on the 21st and on this I will stake everything, the prestige of my Government and my own personal prestige. And if it is a success we will all rejoice. If it is a failure, I will not go to Larkana. So I would request ladies and gentlemen to join me in a toast to Her Royal Highness Princess Ashraf Pahlavi and all our distinguished guests.