The White House
Secret December
9,1971
Memorandum for the President
From: Henry A. Kissinger
Subject: India-Pakistan Situation
The following are the major developments that have
occurred during the day on the situation in South Asia:
At the UN, intensive consultations continue in
preparation for another Security Council session this afternoon. This morning
Yahya informed Ambassador Farland that he had given Foreign Ministerdesignate
Bhutto the widest possible latitude to effect a cease-fire and troop withdrawal
and had told him in effect to "do the best you can under the
circumstances." In New York Bhutto has agreed to the
revised British resolution, and the British have PRC concurrence. Bhutto has
earlier received instructions to work for simple cease-fire resolution with the
provision that the Security Council would later take up other aspects. In the
meantime, Ambassador Farland checked this out with Yahya and has learned that
Bhutto is acting under instructions for a "simple cease-fire
solution" in the East but had "less simplistic" instruction on
the West.
There was also a new Italian/Japanese resolution on
the table from last night's meeting that calls for a cease-fire and
"disengagement" as well as immediate negotiations for a comprehensive
political settlement and a three-member Security Council Committee to help India and Pakistan resolve their differences.
The initial Pak reaction to this resolution was negative. The British have
assumed that the Italians would stand aside the British resolution if it seemed
to have some chance of passage.
Latest reports from Dacca indicate that the Indians
are preparing for a final all-out assault on the city that could begin in a few
hours (down Dacca time) unless last minute
efforts to obtain a cease-fire are successful. Yahya has confirmed, via his
Foreign Secretary to Ambassador Farland, that General Niazi's cease-fire
formula from East Pakistan can be transmitted to the Indians. The proposal,
which avoids the word "surrender," calls for an immediate cease-fire
in East
Pakistan, the regrouping of Pak armed forces in areas mutually agreed upon and
guarantees for their safety and the safety of all those who have settled in East Pakistan since 1947. The proposal
also asks that no reprisals be carried out against those who have helped the East Pakistan government since last
March.
Our carrier task force is transiting the Straits of
Malacca and will arrive at a point near the center of the base of the Bay of Bengal tomorrow evening. Rumors
about this move are already widespread in the area where they are being
combined with stories that the US is considering military
assistance to Pakistan. In this connection, Ambassador
Keating reports that these stories are spurning increasingly anti-US rallies
and press attacks. The Ambassador says that he would be "deeply concerned
and anxious" about the lives and welfare of Americans in India if the US were directly or
indirectly to support Pakistan with US arms or equipment
and would want to recommend at least partial evacuation if this is under
serious consideration.
The British are also moving some naval vessels into
the area -- a commando carrier and a frigate off the southern coast of Ceylon. Soviet task force,
consisting of a guided missile cruiser, an oiler and diesel powered submarine
continues to steam through the South China Sea toward the Indian Ocean where if it continues on
that course it should arrive in about three days. The Soviets have 12 other
naval ships in the Indian Ocean but none of these is in or known to be heading for
areas near the Indo-Pakistani conflict.
Source: Bangladesh Liberation War and the Nixon House 1971, Enayetur
Rahim and Joyce L. Rahim, Pustaka Dhaka, p – 432 – 433