President Ayub Khan and his successors tried very hard to make the RCD ( Regional Cooperation for Development) a meaningful organization which would give a boost to its economy and its morale. Since Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and Zia-ul-Haque regimes lacked political legitimacy, a prop liek the RCD was necessary from them politically.
Though Pakistan has been rather enthusiasm. Some progress was made in intra-regional trade and some joint purpose enterprises were set up, means of communication between the three countries were also improved and this was a very welcomed development for the betterment of the people. But the idea of a common market, as intended by Prime Minister Z.A Bhutto or that of a customs union or any type of concrete collaboration did not really take shape.
Again it was noticed that the political undertones of the RCD appeared to be more marked in Pakistan than in the other two countries. The Pakistan rulers deliberately kept up the image of the RCD. According to Hussain Amir, a Pakistani writer, “it is something one hears about in Pakistan only despite the existence of a RCD secretariat in Tehran”