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When US armed Pakistan: Indian Army's throwback post after Trump's India funding Russia's war charge
A US Navy SH-60 helicopter hovers off the bow of the USS Enterprise July 20, 1998, during a training exercise near Puerto Rico. The United States had deployed USS Enterprise and the 7th Fleet to intervene in the India-Pakistan War of 1971 on Pakistan's side. (Photo: Timothy Smith/US Navy/AFP)
At a time when US President Donald Trump has accused India of funding the Russian war on Ukraine, the Indian Army has reminded the world of the US role against India in the India-Pakistan War of 1971.
In a post on X, the Eastern Command of the Indian Army on Tuesday shared newspaper clippings from August 5, 1971, with reports of US military assistance to Pakistan at the time.
In 1971, India and Pakistan fought a 13-day war in which India scored a decisive victory that led to the creation of the nation of Bangladesh that had until then been a part of Pakistan called East Pakistan. While the United States supported Pakistan ahead of the war —as news clippings shared by the Army show— it also supported Pakistan during the war.
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After Pakistan attacked India, formally starting the war on December 3, 1971, the United States came to the active military support of Pakistan and dispatched the 7th Fleet of the US Navy towards Indian shores to pressure India and break the blockade of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), led by the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.
US support to Pakistan haunts India-US ties again
In the Cold War, India and Pakistan were on the opposite camps.
While Pakistan was aligned with the West led by the United States, India was aligned with the Soviet Union even though the country was formally non-aligned.
In the India-Pakistan War of 1971, the United States and allies like the Shah of Iran helped Pakistan whereas the Soviet Union helped India.
The US military intervention against India in 1971 tainted the India-US ties for decades and turned the public opinion in India against the United States for generations.
Once India detected the US military movement, India reached out to the Soviet Union for help. The Soviet Union dispatched its own warships and submarines that shadowed and encircled US warships, forcing them to halt their mission and preventing any armed confrontation.
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Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for August 7, 2025. If you missed the August 6, 2025 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here FRONT PAGE Trump doubles India tariff to 50%, opens 21-day window Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests. What's the ongoing story: Ramping up pressure ahead of the expected arrival in India of US trade negotiators on August 25, President Donald Trump Wednesday doubled the tariffs on India to 50 per cent, but opened a 21-day window before the additional tariff of 25 per cent kicks in. 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The Act is in conformance with the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Bills of Lading of August 1924 (Hague Rules) and subsequent amendments to it. • The Bill empowers the central government to: (i) issue directions for carrying out provisions of the Bill, and (ii) amend the schedule specifying rules applicable to bills of lading. A bill of lading refers to a document issued by a freight carrier to a shipper. It contains details such as the type, quantity, condition, and destination of goods being carried. The rules outline the responsibilities, liabilities, rights, and immunities of goods carriers. • The bill adopts the Hague-Visby Rules, a globally accepted maritime standard also followed by countries like the United Kingdom. By replacing complexity with clarity, the legislation is expected to simplify maritime trade laws, reduce litigation risks, and enhance transparency and commercial efficiency in cargo movement by sea. 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They reflected a deliberate articulation of India's more assertive security doctrine, representing a calculated move to redefine the deterrence equation in South Asia. That India is prepared to act against terrorism regardless of Pakistan's 'nuclear bluff' is ostensibly intended to enhance India's deterrent credibility. • The three-way China-India-Pakistan nuclear relationship has created a complex web of interlocking deterrence. All three countries are modernising and expanding their nuclear arsenals and delivery systems. • Given the lack of transparency regarding nuclear arsenals and doctrines, and a marked reluctance to engage in a dialogue on measures to mitigate nuclear risk, the ongoing arms race can further destabilise the region, especially in a crisis such as Pahalgam. • August 6, the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, was a reminder of the horrors of a nuclear holocaust. 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The vector insect here injects the virus while sucking the sap from mostly young plants. • But crop protection chemicals aren't limited to insecticides. They also include fungicides (to control fungal diseases such as blast and sheath blight in rice or powdery mildew and rusts in wheat) and herbicides (to kill or inhibit the growth of weeds). • The largest segment within that is insecticides (Rs 10,700 crore), followed by herbicides (Rs 8,200 crore) and fungicides (Rs 5,600 crore). As the accompanying chart shows, it is the market for herbicides that's growing at the highest rate – over 10% annually. • Much of that is controlled by multinational companies: Bayer AG (which has an estimated 15% market share), Syngenta (12%), ADAMA (10%), Corteva Agriscience (7%) and Sumitomo Chemical (6%). While Bayer is German, Corteva is from the US and Sumitomo is Japanese, the Basel (Switzerland) and Ashdod (Israel)-headquartered Syngenta and ADAMA respectively are both owned by the Chinese state-owned Sinochem Holdings Corporation. • However, the herbicide segment has Indian players, too, such as Dhanuka Agritech (estimated 6% share) and Crystal Crop Protection Ltd (CCPL: 4%). CCPL recently purchased the rights to Ethoxysulfuron, a herbicide used against broad-leaved weeds and sedges in rice and sugarcane, from Bayer AG for sales in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Southeast Asian countries. • The deal, announced in January 2025, also covered the latter's 'Sunrice' trademark for mixture products containing this active ingredient. Earlier, in December 2023, CCPL had acquired 'Gramoxone', a broad-spectrum herbicide containing the active ingredient Paraquat, from Syngenta for sale in India. Do You Know: • Weeds, unlike insect pests and disease-causing pathogens, don't directly damage or destroy crops. Instead, they compete with them for nutrients, water and sunlight. Yield losses happen because the crops are deprived of these essential resources. Besides growing at their expense, weeds sometimes even harbour pests and pathogens inflicting further harm. • Weed control has traditionally been through manual removal by hand or simple lightweight short-handled tools with flat blades such as khurpi. There are also power weeders with 3-10 horsepower engine capacity that can be run between rows of standing crops to remove weeds in and around those spaces. • Farmers generally spray insecticides and fungicides only when they physical observe and assess the pest population or disease incidence to be significant enough to impact crop yield and quality/marketability. 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Key Points to Ponder: • What is Sylheti? • What is the history of its speakers? • Which unique script is historically associated with Sylheti, though termed 'esoteric' by some scholars? • The article highlights that Sylheti is spoken in Assam's Barak Valley and which two other Indian regions? • What is the role of mutual intelligibility in determining whether Sylheti is a language or a dialect? • Know the sociolinguistic status of Sylheti vis-à-vis Standard Bengali within Bangladesh. • Why have Malviya's comments touched a raw nerve in Assam? Key Takeaways: • In his defence of the letter, Malviya claimed it was referring to 'a set of dialects, syntax, and speech patterns that are distinctly different from the Bangla spoken in India', and gave the example of 'Sylhelti' as being 'nearly incomprehensible to Indian Bengalis'. • Sylheti is spoken on both sides of the border, in the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh as well as the Barak Valley Division of southern Assam. There is also a sizable presence of Sylheti-speakers in neighbouring Meghalaya and Tripura. • The primary argument for referring to Sylheti as a dialect of Bengali — and not a language in its own right — is mutual intelligibility, that is, speakers of both tongues understand each other. However, there is scholarly disagreement on the matter. • 'The claim of mutual intelligibility by some speakers of both Sylheti and Bengali may be more an effect of the speakers' exposure to both languages,' linguists Candide Simard, Sarah M Dopierala, and E Marie Thaut wrote in their paper 'Introducing the Sylheti language and its speakers' (2020). • 'Sylheti-speaking areas of Bangladesh and India are characterised by diglossia, where standard Bengali is the language of education and literacy and Sylheti is the vernacular variety used in everyday interactions,' the linguists wrote. • Speakers on both sides of the border nonetheless have a strong affinity to the Bengali language, and often identify as Bengali themselves. Do You Know: • Tapodhir Bhattacharjee, a former vice-chancellor of Assam University Silchar and a Bengali literary theorist, said that the primary difference between the Sylheti dialect and standardised Bengali is phonetic, while the two are almost identical in morphology and syntax. • While Bhattacharjee recognises that there was once a Sylhet-Nagri script — the existence of a unique system of writing is often seen as a marker of a language — he refers to it as an 'esoteric script'. • Historian Ashfaque Hossain refers to Sylhet as historically being 'a frontier of Bengal'. • The present-day Sylhet Division in Bangladesh, comprising the districts of Habibganj, Sunamganj, Sylhet, and Moulvibazar, was made a part of Assam soon after it was split from Bengal in 1874. • Geographically contiguous with Cachar in the Bengali-majority Barak Valley, between 1874 and 1947, Sylhet witnessed a sustained churn over the question of whether it should be a part of Assam or Bengal. 'On one side, this was a matter of Bengali versus Assamese, and on the other, Hindu versus Muslim,' Hossain wrote. • Historian Anindita Dasgupta wrote in 'Remembering Sylhet: A Forgotten Story of India's 1947 Partition', '… the Hindus of Sylhet demanded for a return to the more 'advanced' Bengal, whereas the Muslims by and large preferred to remain in Assam where its leaders, along with the Assamese Muslims, found a more powerful political voice…' • The story of Sylheti migration to parts of present-day Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura, however, is even older. Dasgupta wrote about 'Sylheti Hindu bhodrolok' who were 'economic migrants' across the region. • Malviya's claim of the dialect being 'a shorthand for the linguistic markers used to profile illegal immigrants from Bangladesh' has thus drawn strong reactions not only from the BJP's political opponents in the Barak Valley but from within the party. Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Letter from Delhi Police refers to Bangla as 'Bangladeshi language', TMC demands apology For any queries and feedback, contact Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter. Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X. Priya Kumari Shukla is a Senior Copy Editor in the Indian Express (digital). She contributes to the UPSC Section of Indian Express (digital) and started niche initiatives such as UPSC Key, UPSC Ethics Simplified, and The 360° UPSC Debate. The UPSC Key aims to assist students and aspirants in their preparation for the Civil Services and other competitive examinations. It provides valuable guidance on effective strategies for reading and comprehending newspaper content. The 360° UPSC Debate tackles a topic from all perspectives after sorting through various publications. The chosen framework for the discussion is structured in a manner that encompasses both the arguments in favour and against the topic, ensuring comprehensive coverage of many perspectives. Prior to her involvement with the Indian Express, she had affiliations with a non-governmental organisation (NGO) as well as several coaching and edutech enterprises. In her prior professional experience, she was responsible for creating and refining material in various domains, including article composition and voiceover video production. She has written in-house books on many subjects, including modern India, ancient Indian history, internal security, international relations, and the Indian economy. She has more than eight years of expertise in the field of content writing. Priya holds a Master's degree in Electronic Science from the University of Pune as well as an Executive Programme in Public Policy and Management (EPPPM) from the esteemed Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, widely recognised as one of the most prestigious business schools in India. She is also an alumni of Jamia Milia Islamia University Residential Coaching Academy (RCA). Priya has made diligent efforts to engage in research endeavours, acquiring the necessary skills to effectively examine and synthesise facts and empirical evidence prior to presenting their perspective. Priya demonstrates a strong passion for reading, particularly in the genres of classical Hindi, English, Maithili, and Marathi novels and novellas. Additionally, she possessed the distinction of being a cricket player at the national level. Qualification, Degrees / other achievements: Master's degree in Electronic Science from University of Pune and Executive Programme in Public Policy and Management (EPPPM) from Indian Institute of Management Calcutta ... Read More
Time of India
19 minutes ago
- Time of India
Japan presses US on auto tariff cut, seeks clarification on other levies
Japan pressed the United States to swiftly implement an agreed cut to auto tariffs and sought clarification on levies for other goods, as conflicting interpretations of the bilateral trade deal further pressured Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba 's shaky administration. In a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in Washington on Wednesday, top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa urged the U.S. to implement at an early date an agreed cut to U.S. tariffs on Japanese auto and auto parts, Japan's government said. Akazawa also sought confirmation and "immediate execution" of the two countries' agreement on U.S. levies for other goods imported from Japan, the government said in a statement released on Thursday. The meeting came hours before President Donald Trump's higher tariffs on dozens of trading partners kicked in on Thursday, as Japan scrambles to clarify divergences with Washington on details of their bilateral trade deal. Under the deal clinched last month, the U.S. agreed to cut tariffs on Japanese car imports to 15 per cent from levies totalling 27.5 per cent previously, but did not announce a timeframe for the change to take effect. While the two agreed that U.S. duties on most other Japanese goods will be cut to 15 per cent from 25 per cent effective Thursday, a lack of written confirmation of the deal has led to confusion over whether the new 15 per cent tariffs will be stacked on top of existing levies. Japan argues the two countries had agreed its goods imported to the U.S. would be exempt from such "stacking". But a Federal Register attached to President Donald Trump's July 31 executive order that addressed tariff rates for many trading partners showed a "no stacking" condition applies to the European Union, but no such clarification was issued for Japan. "We have confirmed with the U.S. that there is no discrepancy",...that the 15 per cent tariff will not be added on top of existing levies, Ishiba told reporters on Thursday. "Japan is strongly requesting the U.S. to swiftly amend the executive order," the premier said. Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Akazawa said Japan wanted to make sure goods such as Japanese beef, which already carries tariffs above 15 per cent, will not be charged the new 15 per cent rate in addition. Japan's Asahi newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an unnamed White House official, that the U.S. will stack the tariffs. But in a regular news conference held shortly afterwards, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the U.S. was unlikely to do this, adding that Akazawa had confirmed the point during a visit to Washington on Wednesday. Ishiba, who is facing calls to step down after the ruling coalition's huge loss in last month's upper house election, has come under attack in parliament and domestic media for not crafting a written joint statement stipulating details of the trade deal. He has defended the decision, telling parliament on Monday that Japan decided to forgo a written statement for fear that producing one could delay the reduction in tariffs. Some lawmakers have warned the lack of written confirmation could backfire given Trump's unpredictable decision-making. "In negotiating with the U.S., Minister Akazawa at least ought to have nailed down exactly when U.S. automobile tariffs would be lowered to 15 per cent," ruling party heavyweight and former trade minister Ken Saito told Reuters on Tuesday. Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of opposition Democratic Party for the People, urged Akazawa to press Trump's administration harder to adhere to the bilateral agreement. "After all, I do feel that a document on the agreement was necessary," Tamaki wrote in an X post on Thursday.
