Memorandum from the President's Assistant for National Security
Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon/1/
Washington, August 19, 1971.
/1/ Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files,
Box 759, Presidential Correspondence File, India (1971). Confidential.
Sent for information. A stamp on the memorandum
indicates the President saw it; Nixon put a checkmark on the memorandum to show
that he had read it.
SUBJECT
Letter From Mrs. Gandhi
Mrs. Gandhi has written in response to your two most recent letters to
her concerning the situation in South Asia (Tab A).
There is nothing new in this letter. Also attached (Tab B)/2/ is her appeal
sent to you and other major heads of state to use your influence with President
Yahya concerning the fate of Mujibur
Rahman.
/2/ See Document 119.
Specifically, Mrs. Gandhi makes the following major points:
-It is not for India
to object to the US
maintaining a "constructive relationship" with Pakistan
with a view toward retaining some influence in the present situation. She
implies, however, that this has yet to produce anything tangible. Nothing, she
says, would give India
a greater sense of relief than saying that the US
is "working toward a viable settlement which would restore peace and a
semblance of civilized government in East Bengal which
would enable Pakistan
citizens to return to their homes."
-She rejects our idea of posting UN observers on both sides of the
India-East Pakistan border. Essentially her argument is that anyone is free to
travel and visit the refugee camps and that it is "unrealistic" to
think that UN observers could help stem the flow of refugees.
"Would," she asks, "the League of Nations Observers have succeeded
in persuading the refugees who fled from Hitler's tyranny to return even whilst
the pogroms against the Jews and political opponents of Nazism continued
unabated?"
-Her government was "greatly embarrassed" by the revelation,
right after her Foreign Minister returned from Washington, that the US was
still shipping arms to Pakistan. She characterizes all our arms shipments to Pakistan
as a "sad chapter in the history of our subcontinent."
-She thanks you for informing her of the China
initiative, welcomes this move and wishes you well.
Despite Mrs. Gandhi's obvious disagreement with our policy toward South
Asia, the generally moderate and somewhat defensive tone of her
letter is perhaps significant. It is also interesting that it was dispatched
just prior to the signing of the new Indo-Soviet "friendship" treaty
and on the same day she also accepted your invitation that she visit here in
November. This coincides with other indications that despite recent events,
Mrs. Gandhi is by no means prepared to write off the US.
State has been asked to draft a suggested response. They will do this
after seeing what comes out of the discussions that Maury Williams and
Ambassador Farland will be having in Islamabad
this week. If these produce something positive we will then be in a better
position to go back at the Indians.
Attachment
Letter from Indian Prime Minister Gandhi to President Nixon/3/
/3/ No classification marking.
New Delhi, August 7, 1971.
Dear Mr. President,
Thank you for your letters-one dated May 29/4/ and the other brought by
Dr. Kissinger, dated July 1./5/ I have read them with
interest. Dr. Kissinger has no doubt spoken to you about his wide-ranging
discussions in New Delhi.
/4/ The letter, dated May 28, was delivered to
Gandhi on May 29; see Document 62.
/5/ Document 86.
Since I wrote to you on May 13,/6/ the situation
has not improved. Sanguinary conflict continues unabated in East
Bengal. The number of Pakistani citizens fleeing their homeland
and seeking shelter in India
is steadily augmenting. We now have more than seven million registered
evacuees. The West Pakistani army has driven out the greater part of the
minority community as well as more than a million Moslem citizens of East
Bengal. In recent weeks, the number of the latter is increasing.
/6/ Document 46.
It is not for us to object to the United States maintaining, as you, Mr.
President, have put it, "a constructive relationship with Pakistan"
so that the U.S. may "retain some influence in working with them towards
important decisions to be made in that country." We have waited patiently
and with restraint, hoping for a turn in the tide of events which the
Government, Parliament and people of India
could recognize as a step towards a political settlement.
Your letter of May 29 referred hopefully to President Yahya
Khan's press conference of May 24. Since then, we have carefully considered his
statement of June 28 and his utterances on television. These pronouncements
show a hardening of attitude and it seems to us that they do not take us nearer
a solution.
Nothing would give me, my colleagues in the Government and the Indian
people a greater sense of relief than to be able to say that the United
States was working towards a viable
settlement which would restore peace and the semblance of civilized Government
in East Bengal which would enable Pakistani citizens to
return to their homes.
However, the malaise afflicting the socio-political structure of Pakistan
and the tensions prevailing between the various parts of it are deep rooted.
The present attempt is to solve chronic problems, arising out of political,
social and economic disparities, by force. I believe that the Government of the
United States
supports the view that the posting of U.N. observers on either side of the
frontiers of India
and East Bengal could solve the problem of the refugees.
We regret that we do not see the situation in this light. India
is an open democracy. We have a large diplomatic corps and many representatives
of the world press. We have had visits of parliamentary delegations from
various countries. All are free to travel and to visit the refugee camps. They
see for themselves that although we are doing all we can for the refugees, life
in the camps is one of deprivation and acute discomfort. Hence it is unrealistic
to think that the presence of a group of U.N. observers could give any feeling
of assurance to the evacuees when every day they see new evacuees pouring in
with stories of atrocities. Would the League of Nations Observers have
succeeded in persuading the refugees who fled from Hitler's tyranny to return
even whilst the pogroms against the Jews and political opponents of Nazism
continued unabated? In our view, the intentions of the U.N. Observers might be
more credible if their efforts were directed at stopping the continuing outflow
of these unfortunate people and at creating conditions which, to any reasonable
person, would assure the safety of life and liberty of the refugee who wishes
to return to East Bengal.
Mr. President, I am touched by your generous references to the vitality
of Indian democracy and the strength of purpose of our Government in meeting
the complex social and economic problems which confront India.
These problems have been rendered more complex by the action of the Pakistan
Army and the burden on us is almost unbearable. It is by sheer act of will that
we are able to hold on.
I should like to mention one other matter. Our Government was greatly
embarrassed that soon after our Foreign Minister's return from his Washington
visit and despite the statements made by Ambassador Keating in Bombay
on April 16 and by the State Department's spokesman on April 15, 1971, came the news of fresh supplies
of U.S. arms to
Pakistan.
It was a sad chapter in the history of our subcontinent when the United
States began to supply arms to Pakistan
in 1954 and continued doing so up to 1965. These arms have been used against
us, as indeed we feared they would be. And now these arms are being used against their own people whose only fault appears to be
that they took seriously President Yahya Khan's
promises to restore democracy.
In the midst of all the human tragedy, it is some relief to contemplate
the voyage of the astronauts in the Apollo-15. These valiant men and the team
of scientists supporting them represent man's eternal longing to break from the
constraints of time and space. As I write this, the astronauts are heading
homewards, back to our earth. We pray for their safety
and success. Please accept, Mr. President, our warm felicitations.
I was glad to have your message regarding your initiative to normalise relations with the People's Republic of China.
We have welcomed this move and we wish you well.
With best wishes and regards,
Yours sincerely,
Indira Gandhi
Source: Document 128, volume XI, South Asia crisis 1971, Department of State.