Reuters Chronology of U.S.-Pakistan relations up to 1985

Not complete by any means; e.g., U.S. assistance to Pakistan began in 1947 not 1954. But still a handy reference.

Reuters
WASHINGTON
October 10, 2010

1954 - U.S. and Pakistan negotiate a mutual defense assistance agreement to address Washington's fear of Soviet expansionism and Islamabad's concerns about rival India.

1955 - Pakistan joins the South East Asia Treaty Organization and Central Treaty Organization -- two Western regional defense pacts. Between 1953 and 1961, Pakistan receives some $2 billion in U.S. aid, a quarter of that in military assistance.

1960 - Pakistan allows the United States to fly its spy planes from an air base on the outskirts of Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar for reconnaissance of the Soviet Union. A U.S. U-2 spy plane flown from this air base was shot down by the Soviet Union over its air space on May 1, worsening relations between Pakistan and the Soviet Union. Pakistan publicly claimed to have been deceived by the United States about the use of the base.

1962 - Indo-China war prompts U.S. President John F. Kennedy to offer India economic and military aid. Pakistani President Mohammad Ayub Khan expresses displeasure over not having been consulted beforehand, as Kennedy had promised.

1965 - Second Indo-Pakistan war prompts U.S. to suspend military assistance to both sides, leading to a cooling of U.S.-Pakistani ties.

1970 - Pakistan plays a behind-the-scenes role to open communications between its old ally China and the United States. These efforts result in a secret visit of then-U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to China in 1971 and then by President Richard Nixon the following year, the first U.S. presidential trip to China.

1971 - Civil war between West and East Pakistan leads to the third Indo-Pakistan war. East Pakistan breaks away to form Bangladesh. U.S. again suspends military aid. Many in Pakistan begin to see United States as an unreliable ally.

1974 - India conducts underground nuclear test, prompting Pakistan to begin efforts to respond with its own nuclear arms capability. Islamabad's pursuit of atomic weapons in subsequent years strains ties with Washington.

1975 - U.S. resumes limited military aid to Pakistan.

1977 - Army chief General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq stages a coup, overthrowing the government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

1979 - President Jimmy Carter's administration cuts off military aid to Pakistan again over its covert construction of a uranium enrichment facility.

November 1979 - Enraged Pakistani students burn the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad on rumors that U.S. forces have attacked Islam's holiest city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Two U.S. Marines and two Pakistanis are killed in the incident.

December 1979 - The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. The United States begins to view Pakistan as a front-line state in the effort to stop Soviet expansionism.

September 1981 - President Ronald Reagan's administration negotiates a five-year, $3.2 billion economic and military aid package with Islamabad. Pakistan becomes the main route for arms and supplies for the Afghan resistance.

1985 - Pressler amendment added to the Foreign Assistance Act. It requires the president to certify to Congress that Pakistan does not possess a nuclear device as a condition for receiving aid.