In the 1950s, Pakistan's government aggressively campaigned to encourage unity amongst Muslims and cooperation between Muslim states. But the response of most Muslim countries to these Pakistani endeavors were not encouraging. Pakistani leaders, experienced in the intensity of Hindu-Muslim conflict in South Asia during the Pakistan Movement, had believed in the righteousness of their cause and while enthusiastically projecting Islam into foreign policy they failed to understand that Islam did not play the same role in the nationalist programs of most Middle Eastern states.