Indira requested President Nixon to stop Pak attack in 1971: US archive document

New Delhi:  While Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday recounted Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s much-fabled political will in 1971, historians pointed out that she, in fact, did not want to fight and pleaded with the US to help stop Islamabad’s aggressive activities against India.

A US government’s archive document, recording PM Indira Gandhi’s letter to President Richard Nixon dated December 5, 1971, shows that two days after Pakistan attacked India’s Western Front on December 3, 1971, she sought his intervention in “this hour of danger”.

The document not only confirms PM Indira Gandhi’s unwillingness to fight but also exposes the then-ruling Congress party’s reliance on the US for dealing with Pakistan.

On Tuesday, the US archive records also gave ammunition to BJP leaders who blasted the Opposition Congress for alleging that US President Donald Trump had forced India to accept a ceasefire understanding during Operation Sindoor.

“It was Indira Gandhi who approached the US over matters related to war with Pakistan. The PM Narendra Modi’s government never came under any US pressure and took independent and decisive action against Pakistan-based terror hubs,” said a BJP leader.

In her letter to President Nixon, Indira Gandhi wrote, “The government and the people of India seek your understanding and urge you to persuade Pakistan to desist forthwith from the policy of wanton aggression and military adventurism which it has unfortunately embarked upon.”

“May I request Your Excellency to exercise your undoubted influence with the Government of Pakistan to stop their aggressive activities against India…” said the then Prime Minister, according to the document from the National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials.

The document on Indira Gandhi’s request to the US to stop Pakistan’s aggression came into the public domain on a day when Rahul Gandhi, while taking part in a discussion in Lok Sabha on Operation Sindoor, accused the Modi government of not giving a free hand to the armed forces.

Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government stopped the armed forces from attacking Pakistani military installations, informed Islamabad about its intention not to escalate and sent Indian jets to fight without neutralising Pakistani radars.

The Leader of Opposition claimed that in contrast to the Modi government’s decision to tie the hands of armed forces, Indira Gandhi gave a free hand to armed forces and fought the 1971 war despite the US dispatching the Task Force 74, centred around the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, from the Seventh Fleet to the Bay of Bengal to intimidate India.

–IANS