When India held firm and carved out a nation called Bangladesh

medium nocaption119488235Sending its 7th Fleet to the Bay of Bengal during the 1971 Indo-Pak war might not have been the only aggressive military action taken by the US against India in 1971, newly declassified top-secret documents say.Among these papers is a six-page note prepared by the Americas Division in the ministry of external affairs. On the US behaviour, it says: “The assessment of our embassy reveal (sic) that the decision to brand India as an ‘aggressor’ and to send the 7th Fleet to the Bay of Bengal was taken personally by President Nixon.” More significantly, the note reveals what was hitherto not in the public domain: “Our embassy understand (sic) that even three Marine battalions in USA were placed on the standby for emergency airlift.” Published material and documents don’t speak of the US keeping Marine battalions on the standby for military operations against India. Despite such a hostile and aggressive US stand, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi held firm and went on to liberate Bangladesh.The note says that the Indian embassy in Washington “feel (sic) that the bomber force aboard the (aircraft carrier) Enterprise had the US President’s authority to undertake bombing of Indian Army’s communications, if necessary. This assessment of our embassy clearly indicates the anti-India attitude of the US administration and particularly of President Nixon and his personal advisor Dr Kissinger.”US strengthening Pak's handThe Americas Division note is part of a file titled “US Military Assistance and Arms Sales to Pakistan”. The file is a narrative of the tense days of the later part of 1971, when the US weighed in on Pakistan’s side against India. In December first week, the two countries went to war, and in less than two weeks a new nation – Bangladesh – was born.“In spite of both Houses of Congress passing resolutions demanding the stoppage of all economic aid and arms supplies, economic aid to Pakistan was not suspended by the US administration,” the note points out. medium119488642On the military front, the Indian government was misled by the US administration saying that no arms were being supplied to Pakistan. But an article in the New York Times on June 22, 1971, exposed that two Pakistani ships laden with military supplies were on their way to Karachi from the US. “Later, on June 5 the state department conceded that this was true and that a few more ships would be carrying arms to Pakistan. This came as a surprise. The US authorities, at first described this as bureaucratic bungling but later on it became clear that this was a policy which had been approved at the highest level,” the MEA file notes.The file shows that the US government finally announced on November 8, 1971, that after discussions with Pakistan and “with their consent”, the US agreed to wind up their remaining shipments and cancel outstanding licences for military equipment to Pakistan.On December 1, 1971, the US government also announced its decisions against India to suspend issuance of future munitions list licences, not to issue any new licences or to renew existing ones. “While announcing the decision, the US government informed us that this did not affect outstanding licences for Indian scheduled purchases in the US which were valued at approximately $11.5 million,” the MEA file notes. But in two days a nasty surprise was yet in store for India. “Two days later, the US government also announced the suspension of these licences” too. medium119489016US's anti-India standIn a detailed analysis of the US’s political stand during the Indo-Pak stand off, the Americas division pointed out, “The political support extended by the US government to Pakistan during the recent Indo-Pak hostilities can be described as all-out. The US government extended full political support to the Pakistan government, both before and during the hostilities. While at no stage was there any condemnation of the atrocities committed by the Pakistan government against the people of Bangladesh, the US government was quick to react to India’s reaction to Pakistani aggression which they described as aggression.” President Nixon in his letter to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had “rejected” the pleas that the US was responsible for aggravating the crisis, the note said.In the US, the Indian mission was “asked not to instigate the news media in USA against the administration,” the file says. At the UN, the US delegation “extended full political support to Pakistan” and they proposed a resolution in the Security Council asking for a ceasefire and withdrawal of troops “without in any manner taking into account the root-cause” of the problem. “The American delegation accused India of aggression. In the Security Council and the General Assembly they tried to mobilize support in favour of Pakistan,” the ministry said.Research: Rajesh Sharma