When US Sent Warships Against India: 1971 Flashback Resurfaces Amid Trump's Russia Rant

News18

05-08-2025

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The 1971 Indo-Pak war ended with Pakistan's surrender and Bangladesh's birth, but not before the US sent warships to stop India
On Tuesday, the Indian Army's Eastern Command posted a newspaper clipping on X from the days leading up to the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The caption blared in block letters: 'US ARMS WORTH $2 BILLION SHIPPED TO PAKISTAN SINCE '54."
The timing of the post was unmistakable. Just a day earlier, US President Donald Trump accused India of helping fund Russia's war in Ukraine by buying discounted crude oil and selling it for profit. After already imposing a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods, Trump threatened a further 'substantial hike". India hit back, calling the allegations 'unjustified and unreasonable." And then came the Army's quiet but pointed reminder of a very different American partnership, one that tried to block India's victory in 1971.
Behind the reminder lies a chapter in global history that still rankles: the United States' open support for Pakistan during the 1971 war, including the deployment of a nuclear warship, covert diplomatic manoeuvres to pressure India, and a disturbing disregard for the genocide unfolding in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
When Pakistan Attacked, The US Took Its Side
The Indo-Pak war broke out on December 3, 1971, when Pakistan launched pre-emptive air strikes on Indian airfields. India responded swiftly, and within 13 days, Pakistani troops surrendered in Dhaka, giving birth to the independent nation of Bangladesh. But between those two dates, the United States, then under President Richard Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, did everything it could to save Pakistan from military defeat.
Washington's Cold War loyalties were clear. Pakistan was a key US ally, both as a member of military alliances like SEATO and CENTO, and more crucially, as a bridge to China. India, on the other hand, was seen as leaning towards the Soviet Union, despite its non-aligned credentials. This ideological divide shaped one of the most fraught episodes in US-India relations.
The USS Enterprise And The 7th Fleet
As the Indian Army advanced toward Dhaka and the Pakistani military began to crumble, Nixon and Kissinger ordered a dramatic naval manoeuvre. On December 10, 1971, the US Navy's 7th Fleet, operating under the name Task Force 74, was deployed to the Bay of Bengal as a show of strength in support of Pakistan.
The task force was led by the USS Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, and included several other major assets:
USS Tripoli (helicopter carrier)
Guided missile cruisers and destroyers
Supply and support ships
The official rationale given by the US was to protect American citizens in the region. However, declassified documents, later published by the US National Security Archive, and accounts like Gary J. Bass's The Blood Telegram suggest the real objective was to intimidate India, break its naval blockade of East Pakistan, and bolster Pakistan's deteriorating military position.
The White House wanted to prevent a total Pakistani collapse. They hoped the show of strength would pressure India to back down, or at least create space for a negotiated ceasefire that could save face for Pakistan.
But India didn't flinch. Instead, it turned to its own ally.
India Had The Soviets, And They Delivered
Just months before the war, India had signed the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation. When the USS Enterprise entered the Indian Ocean, the Soviet Union responded with a naval deployment of its own.
Multiple Soviet warships and nuclear submarines shadowed the US fleet. As military historians later recounted, the Soviet flotilla positioned itself between the American warships and Indian territory, creating a tense but decisive naval standoff. The American fleet did not escalate further. The war continued. And Pakistan surrendered in Dhaka on December 16.
Had the Soviets not intervened, the presence of the 7th Fleet might have changed the outcome, or at least the cost of the war.
US Double Game: Nudging China, Lying To India
While sending its own warships to rattle India, the Nixon administration also tried to involve China, another Pakistani ally, against India. According to declassified documents released in 2005 by the US National Security Archive, Kissinger encouraged Beijing to consider military action against India, offering a veiled security guarantee.
'If the People's Republic were to consider the situation on the Indian subcontinent a threat to security… the US would oppose efforts of others to interfere with the People's Republic," Kissinger reportedly told Chinese officials.
At the same time, Washington assured India that it would support New Delhi if China attacked.
In one communication, US officials told Indian Defence Minister Jagjivan Ram that Washington would 'take a grave view of any Chinese move against India." Kissinger also told India's ambassador L.K. Jha that the US would offer 'all-out help" in the event of a 1962-style Chinese aggression.
To critics, this was a duplicitous foreign policy, talking peace with India, while coordinating pressure with Pakistan and China.
The Nixon-Kissinger Hostility
The 1971 war wasn't just a policy divergence; it was also personal.
Declassified transcripts show that both Nixon and Kissinger held deeply racist and misogynistic views toward Indian leaders. After then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited Washington in November 1971 to urge American intervention against the genocide in East Pakistan, Kissinger dismissed her as a 'b*tch" and Nixon called Indians 'b*stards."
The White House's hostility to India extended even to its own diplomats. When the US Consul General in Dhaka repeatedly warned Washington about the atrocities being committed by the Pakistani Army, the Nixon administration ignored or downplayed those reports in favour of Cold War calculations.
A Legacy That Shaped India's View Of The US
Why did Washington back Pakistan so aggressively? In short: China.
At the time, the United States was secretly working to open diplomatic relations with communist China, a move that would reshape Cold War geopolitics. Pakistan's military ruler Yahya Khan was playing a key role as the intermediary between Washington and Beijing. To preserve that backchannel, President Nixon was determined to keep Pakistan on his side.
Backing India, which was seen as leaning toward the Soviet Union, would have risked that plan. Instead, the Nixon administration threw its weight behind Pakistan, even as it faced global criticism for human rights violations in East Pakistan.
That decision had long-term consequences. It damaged India's trust in the United States and contributed to a lingering sense of strategic caution in the relationship, even as bilateral ties improved in the years that followed.
A Reminder In The Present
The Indian Army's August 5, 2025 post comes not during a war, but a war of words.
India responded by highlighting how its oil imports from Russia only increased after traditional suppliers in the West diverted shipments to Europe. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also pointed out that both the United States and European Union continue to import key goods from Russia, including uranium, palladium, and chemicals, while India's trade decisions are being singled out. 'In this background, the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable. Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security," the MEA said in a statement.
Memory As Strategy
By invoking the 1971 betrayal, the Indian Army not only recalled a pivotal moment in history, but subtly underscored a consistent thread: India's sovereignty has often come under pressure not from enemies, but from supposed partners.
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Back then, it was the USS Enterprise. Today, it's tariff threats and accusations. The means have changed, but the instinct to challenge India's independent decisions hasn't.
And this time, India isn't just remembering. It's pushing back.
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1971 India-Pakistan war donald trump India-US relations Indian Army
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New Delhi, India, India
First Published:
August 05, 2025, 16:22 IST
News explainers When US Sent Warships Against India: 1971 Flashback Resurfaces Amid Trump's Russia Rant
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