Spreading Security

The State Department's new policy of concentrating its foreign aid on those nations that most want support against Russia went ahead quietly last week. The opposition, so noisy only a few weeks ago, was also surprisingly quieter.

Turkey and Pakistan agreed to sign a pact to achieve "closer collaboration in the political, economic and cultural spheres, as well as strengthening peace and security." Its real significance is that it will help forge the first link in a defensive cordon for the Middle East's northern perimeter (TIME, Jan. 18). Throughout the treaty negotiations, the U.S. maintained an attitude of studied indifference, making sure only that India's Nehru was kept informed of what was going on, so that he could not later cry treachery.

This week Pakistan went one step farther and formally requested U.S. military aid. Nehru, who had loudly objected to such assistance to his enemy, Pakistan, had now calmed down a bit.

"I am prepared to accept that the thought of the people behind this U.S. military aid to Pakistan is the idea of developing security in this region," he told his Parliament. "It may be that, from some military point of view, this may be justified. But ... it is a wrong step. A soldier's idea of security and a politician's or a statesman's are not the same."

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