Our Bureau
New Delhi
The recent support that the United States President, Donald Trump has shown towards Pakistan ahead of India with the announcement of the tariffs. Even though he knew the hostile nature of the relations between two nations and the US often addressing India as their friend, the upscaling of duties on India came as a shock to everyone. Not only that but the threats of penalty regarding India’s purchase of Russian oil has left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.
The Eastern Command of the Indian Army this Tuesday, on August 5th, took a slight dig at the US through their official social media account. They posted a clip of an old newspaper from 1971 that highlighted how the US has supported Pakistan for decades. The clip that dated back 54 years from today showed the US was providing Pakistan with arms for decades in the buildup for the 1971 war.
“This day, that year build up of war – August 5, 1971,” the Eastern Command of the Indian Army captioned the post.
The clip that they posted showcased the Defence Production Minister VC Shukla of that time addressing the Rajya Sabha. He talked about how Pakistan had contacted the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) powers and the Soviet Union to supply arms in the backdrop of their armed aggression in Bangladesh.
The Soviet Union and the Government of France had strongly denied any supply of arms to Pakistan. On the other hand, the United States had stood strong and firm on their support to Pakistan. As per the report, the US and China both sold arms to the neighboring nation at what was called “throwaway prices”. This led many to believe that the war fought between India and Pakistan in 1971 was fought by the arms provided by these superpowers.
