Search for a Mantle

When Pakistan's President Mohammed Ayub Khan plays with fire, the smoke is usually intended to choke his Indian enemies. Last week there was plenty of smoke drifting downwind toward India--all of it emanating from Peking, where Ayub was visiting with his new-found Chinese Communist friends.

Smoke spewed from the mouths of saluting cannon as Ayub's jetliner swept into Peking escorted by eight Chinese fighters. Smoke wisped from the tops of eight huge scarlet-silk lanterns mounted in Tien An Men Square, the "Gate of Heavenly Peace" that leads into Peking's Forbidden City, while thousands beat gongs and drums in welcome. And little plumes of smoke must have risen from under the collars of Ayub's SEATO and CENTO allies as they read reports of the talks that followed.

A Shared Dislike. At a banquet thrown by Chinese President Liu Shaochi, Ayub announced his intention to serve as "honest broker" between Washington and Peking in search of a negotiated settlement in Viet Nam--despite the fact that neither China nor the U.S. has shown much interest yet in such a settlement. In private talks with Premier Chou En-lai and Foreign Minister Marshal Chen Yi,* Ayub sought to promote further trade and, more important, nail down an interest-free, $60 million loan, promised late last year to encourage Pakistani purchases of Chinese cement, textiles and machinery.

Ayub's friendship with Peking dates from 1962, when China began chewing up India's Himalayan border. As the U.S., Britain and even Soviet Russia began rushing arms to his Indian enemies, Ayub decided that only Red China shared his dislike for India. Within six months, Ayub had signed a trade pact with China, a border agreement that threw Chinese support behind Pakistan's demands for disputed Kashmir, and a contract that established joint airline service between Karachi, Dacca, Canton and Shanghai. With that, the U.S. withheld a $4,300,000 loan for an airport at Dacca, arguing that it was hardly prepared to serve Communist Chinese air travelers. But overall U.S. aid to Pakistan continued at nearly $400 million a year.

Honest Broker. Ayub stoutly maintains that his cozying up to Red China will not damage U.S. interests in Asia. "For your sakes we stuck our necks out on every bloody occasion," the Sandhurst-trained ex-soldier told recent American visitors. "You can say we damned well had to because you were giving us aid. But our security is important too. Merely because you are not on friendly terms with China, you expect all your friends to do likewise."

Ayub would like nothing better than to pick up the mantle of leadership in nonaligned Asia, which has been unclaimed since India's lawaharlal Nehru died. His Peking visit--in addition to gaining further Chinese support against India--was aimed at building that image. And in the next few weeks, the would-be "honest broker" hopes to boost it further: on the Ayub agenda are trips to Moscow and Washington.

* Who arrived at one session with the Pakistanis carrying a copy of TIME'S Feb. 26 issue with his portrait on the cover.

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