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Secret papers throw new light on Indo-Pak. war

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON JAN. 1. Secret British documents, released here today, throw new light on the 1971 India-Pakistan war that led to the creation of Bangladesh showing for the first time that the U.S. suspected India of wanting to dismember Pakistan by splitting not only its Eastern wing but also West Pakistan.

There was deep scepticism in Washington about New Delhi's claims that it was simply supporting the "liberation struggle'' in Dhaka, and the then U.S. President, Richard Nixon, conveyed his administration's fears to the then British Prime Minister, Edward Heath, at a meeting in Bermuda in December 1971, according to the documents which include secret transcripts of the meeting.

The papers also include details of talks of the then Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, with Mr. Heath in London during which she spoke of the pressures on her from her own Cabinet to occupy Pakistani territory and not return it. Indira Gandhi expressed her apprehensions about an Islamabad-Beijing-Washington nexus building up against India. Pakistan, she said, had already allied itself with China and now Americans were also trying to get close to Beijing. The emerging nexus, she said, made it necessary for India to sign a friendship treaty with Moscow.

The Pakistani leader, Yahya Khan, on the other hand, wrote to Mr. Heath saying that the massive troops build-up by India pointed to its offensive intentions.

The documents show that Nixon, perturbed by Moscow's support for India, sought an assurance from the Soviet leadership that it would restrain India from dismembering West Pakistan.

Nixon and his Foreign Policy Adviser, Henry Kissinger, suspected that India's aim was to break up Pakistan and advance towards Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

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