Toasts of the President and President Yahya Khan of Pakistan at a State Dinner in Lahore

Mr. President, and our friends from Pakistan and the United States:

I have the privilege of responding to the very gracious and eloquent words of the President on this occasion, and in doing so, I want to respond for all of those from the United States that are here, and for the many who are friends of Pakistan in the United States who could not be here. Mr. President, I can say that this has been a very memorable day for all of us, and particularly for me and for Mrs. Nixon; memorable from the time that we arrived at the airport, when we saw the very friendly people who welcomed us as we drove through the roads on the way here to this residence, and then the very constructive talks that we had during the afternoon, the truly magnificent presentation on the grounds where we saw not only the dances, but in addition, the splendid-I perhaps should say the best--bagpipe group that probably exists in the world.

Then tonight this dinner, one that we shall always remember because of the historic setting in which it takes place, because of the good company that is here, and because of the really superb way in which this dinner has been presented.

In that connection, if I could be permitted one personal comment, we have particularly enjoyed the music, the chance alternately to appreciate and understand the music of Pakistan and then the music of the United States. We are most grateful to the orchestra and we thank you for that.

I learned something interesting about the music, incidentally, when one number was being played. I found that it was a wedding number and I was told that wedding numbers quite often are melancholy in Pakistan because it is a sad time to have the bride leave the family and go, of course, away from home to someone else. When we had met the lovely ladies from Pakistan here tonight, we well understood why that would have been the case.

But if I may turn to what are more serious thoughts for a moment, earlier this evening in the reception, one of your guests pointed out that on this occasion our stay in Pakistan would be exactly 22 hours, which happens to coincide with the exact number of hours that the two astronauts spent on the moon.

I think there is a lesson in that, a lesson in it that I would like to expand on very briefly. This journey came about due to the fact that I wanted to be present when our astronauts came back from the moon. It was truly a very exciting experience-after having talked to them on the telephone when they were on the moon--to be there in the Pacific when they completed that successful journey.

Now, with this visit to Pakistan, we complete the Asian phase of our journey around the world. It is true that the visits have been brief, only one day in each country, except for a longer stay in Bangkok, where we had 2 days. But in that period of time, it gave us the opportunity, and particularly me the opportunity, to revisit a number of countries that I had known before, to talk to a number of leaders that I had met before and to meet some that I had not had the opportunity to talk to before, but beyond that, putting it in the perspective of that 22 hours on the moon, and the 22 hours that we are spending in Pakistan, it brings home this one thought:

Unfortunately--I say unfortunately because all around this table, I am sure, would like to participate in the high adventure of being the first to go to the moon or the first to go to Mars, provided we had an absolute, guaranteed, free ticket, whatever the case might be--but we all know that that is not possible, that none of us here will be in that experience, although we will share in it, share in it through the medium of television and radio and communication, which now brings the world together as it has never been brought together before.

On the other hand, while that was a very great adventure, and as the president very generously has pointed out, an achievement of which we are very proud, I think that what we have seen in this less than a week in Asia is also adventure of the very highest order.

I visited all of these countries 16 years ago. Many problems have developed since that time, and I know that there are still many problems today. But looking at the perspective of 16 years, I know that virtually all of the nations that I visited then have moved forward substantially from where they were. That is true of Pakistan. It is true in terms of your economic development. It is true in terms of your industrial development. Despite whatever other problems may have occurred in the meantime, keeping it in the long perspective of history, this is something we must always have in mind as a symbol of hope for the future.

But looking further down the road, in the countries we have visited and the area that we have covered, what we see are one and a half billion people in Asia. In 25 years there will be 3 billion people in Asia. And from this part of the world will either come the greatest progress, and thereby the peace that we all want in the Pacific and in the world, or the greatest destruction that the world has ever known.

I do not think I am overstating in putting it that way. So we look at these countries, we look at the hope, and we look also at the problems. We can see that all of our hopes are bound together. We have our differences, yes, between nations in the area, on this policy or that policy, but looking toward the future, it is essential, absolutely essential, that we have a generation of peace for Asia and the world.

We in the United States want to play our part in attempting to begin that generation by ending a war in which we are presently engaged on a basis that will promote that real peace that we all want, and then to work on for peaceful policies all over the world in the future.

But beyond that, and responding particularly to what the President has said, as we consider this explosion in population from 1 ½ billion to 3 billion people over 25 years, the greatest explosion that has ever occurred in the history of the world, it means that there must be an increase in agricultural production, in industrial production, and also the ability to handle this period of tremendous change in a peaceful way.

What I am really trying to say is, as great and exciting as was the accomplishment of those men landing on the moon, those of us who have the opportunity and the responsibility and the challenge of dealing with this problem also have an exciting and, it seems to me, great adventure, because what we do--what we do day by day in making the decisions that will determine whether peace and freedom and justice and progress go forward together in Asia and the world--what we do can affect the future of not just a billion and a half, not just 3 billion, but of the 4½ to 5 billion people that will live on this earth 25 years from now.

Talking in such big numbers I am sure seems to raise the whole problem beyond the ability to comprehend. But, again, we get back to the moon.

Who would have thought 25 years ago that two men from earth would stand on the moon? It was too much to comprehend. But it happened. It happened because men worked together and they planned together, and as a result, they achieved success.

And I say that that kind of planning and working, that kind of genius, it is not limited to one nation, but that comes from all peoples all over the world, that that kind of genius applied to these enormous problems and these enormous challenges that we see, particularly in Asia.

We can have a period of peace, uninterrupted peace, for a generation. And that can mean the progress that we want for this area and for all the world.

And I just want to say, finally, Mr. President, I came here, as everybody around this table knows, as one who has long been a friend of Pakistan. You were generous to state that while I was Vice President of the United States, I played some role in seeing that the friendship between our two countries remained strong and became stronger.

Now that I am President of the United States, with somewhat more influence than I had as Vice President, I can assure you that I am going to continue to work for a cause that is very close to my heart, the friendship, the friendship between two great peoples, so that we can work together in the solutions of these great problems, work together possibly not in going to the moon or to Mars, although we can participate also in those great ventures in one way or another, but in working together in the equally exciting adventure that I have described, of the future, the future of the hundreds of thousands, yes, I would say millions of children that I have seen on the streets of the cities of Asia over these past 6 days.

And, so, with that, I conclude simply by saying that I am proud to be in this room to respond to this toast in this way, in a country where I have been received so often officially in such a generous way, and when I came as a private citizen in just as hospitable a way.

Mr. President, I ask that all here stand and raise their glasses to the President of Pakistan and to the continuing and increasing friendship between the people of Pakistan and the people of the United States.