Transcription
In December 1971, America sent its most powerful warship, the USS Enterprise, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, to the Bay of Bengal. Why? Because at that time, a war was ongoing between India and Pakistan, and the US wanted to send this ship to give India a message. Whenever this incident is discussed today concerning the relations between India, Pakistan, the US, China, and Russia, it is always mentioned in military circles. Why did America have to send its most powerful ship so far away into an Indian conflict? What were the reasons surrounding that entire event? What all happened at that time? And ultimately, what was the impact of what the US did? We will discuss all these things in today's video. I have done all my research for making this video from this book, "Transition to Triumph." It is written by retired Indian Navy officer Vice Admiral G.M. Hiranandani. Inside this book, the main players during that war, whether they were military commanders or politicians, have written exactly what they experienced about this war in their memoirs; all those things are written in this book. If you want to check out the book, the link is in the description, and at the end of this video, I will also read out some exact quotes from this book, which will tell you exactly what was being discussed within America during this war. If you want to support Jigyasu Ko, you can consider becoming a channel member. Members get access to some exclusive videos where I talk about geopolitical events or sometimes strategy and tactics. So you can check it out. The story begins in 1971. At that time, the area where Bangladesh is today was called East Pakistan because it was a territory of Pakistan. But 1971 was not a good year for East Pakistan, especially for its civilians. Because that year, the civilians had some grievances against the government, and when they were rebelling against those grievances, the government was brutally crushing them. Thousands of people were being killed. To escape such a situation of unrest, people from East Pakistan started fleeing into India. So, in the Indian areas bordering East Pakistan, lakhs of refugees were gathering, and because of this, a serious political and security situation was developing for India as well. This was a very difficult situation for India. Therefore, the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, called the Indian Army Chief, General Manekshaw, and told him that we should find a military solution in East Pakistan; we should conduct a military operation. Then Manekshaw said that this operation could be done, but before that, all the armed forces of India would have to be mobilized and moved towards East Pakistan. There were some other considerations as well. It also had to be seen that if India took immediate military action, China might retaliate. The monsoon season was about to arrive, so if it rained, the movement of Indian forces would also slow down. So, considering many things, it was decided that this operation should be carried out towards the end of the year. However, in the month of December, on December 3rd, West Pakistan, which is what we call Pakistan today, was West Pakistan then. They launched an aerial attack on the Indian Western Front, on the airfields. These air attacks happened on December 3rd, and from this date, the 1971 India-Pakistan War began. Now, Pakistan had started the war with this attack, but in retaliation, the Indian Air Force launched an attack, and after that, ground forces also started moving on the Western Front. So, on the Western Front, some forces from Pakistan entered the Indian border first. But pushing them back, the Indians first pushed them back, and then Indian forces started entering Pakistani territory in many places on the Western Front. And Pakistani forces were continuously retreating. There were very heavy casualties. On the Eastern Front as well, Indian forces were continuously advancing. The Indian Air Force had established complete air supremacy there. All the airfields inside East Pakistan were disabled in such a way that Pakistan's air force there could not do much. So, India had air supremacy. On top of that, the Indian Navy's Eastern Command had also imposed a naval blockade on East Pakistan by sending its ships. So, now it was such that no naval help could come to East Pakistan from outside. The same thing was done to West Pakistan. A naval blockade was also imposed there. Although Pakistan also took an action to impose a blockade, it was just a paper blockade; it was not effective. Now, by December 10th, Indian forces were advancing so rapidly inside East Pakistan. One of the places was Daudkandi. Dhaka was only 40 km away from there. Think about this from a military standpoint. The capital of the place you are attacking is only 40 km away from you, so how frightening would that be for your enemies? And this was directly impacting Washington. To understand this, you need to rise a little above the lens of India and Pakistan and understand what was happening in the world at that time. This was the time of the Cold War, when a Cold War was going on between the two biggest superpowers of that time, the US and the Soviet Union. It is called the Cold War because there was no active war between them, but wherever a major military action happened in the world, these two countries would get involved to see who would dominate more. So, what was happening here between India and Pakistan was a very big war, so whatever progress was being made, whatever updates were coming in daily, were directly reaching Washington and Moscow. So, when it was known in Washington that on December 10th, Indian forces were about to reach Dhaka, they became very active about what to do. Now, what had happened was that during and even before 1971, Pakistan was supported by the US. In fact, in 1959, a bilateral agreement had been signed between the US and Pakistan, in which the US had promised Pakistan that if India tried to attack Pakistan, the US would come to Pakistan's aid. So, a special action group had been formed in Washington regarding what was happening in 1971. This group basically met whenever there was a major military action happening somewhere or a very big political crisis had arisen, and they would discuss what action should be taken. The war began on December 3rd. The very next day, on December 4th, the US tried to pass a motion in the United Nations Security Council. They said that both sides should cease fire. But this resolution was vetoed by the Soviet Union; they did not let it pass. Then, the very next day, on December 5th, the US tried once again in the UN Security Council to stop it. But again, the Soviet Union blocked it. Now, see what the US was doing here. It was trying to get the ceasefire passed in the Security Council so that Pakistan, which was an ally of the US, would not be completely disintegrated under the attack of Indian forces. So, the US did not want this to happen under any circumstances. So, when these two attempts by the US to pass resolutions in the Security Council failed, a meeting of the Special Action Group was held in Washington on December 8th. The minutes of this Special Action Group meeting, meaning what exactly was discussed, were leaked and published in January of the following year, 1972. And when you read it, you get to know the full extent of the discussions that were taking place. So, in this meeting on December 8th, the CIA Director Helms said that Indian forces had reached the river, and within two or three days, they would capture Dhaka as well. This was a very serious military situation. He also said that reports were coming from West Pakistan about very heavy casualties there. Although he said that West Pakistan claimed to have captured a place called Pish, there were very heavy casualties in this entire operation, and Indian forces were also entering Pakistan. This entire situation was very bad for both West and East Pakistan. Henry Kissinger was also present in this meeting. You must have heard his name because at that time he was the US National Security Advisor, and he played a very big role concerning Vietnam and the 1971 India-Pakistan War. So, what Kissinger said in this very meeting? I quote: "What we may be witnessing is a situation where in a country equipped and supported by the Soviet may be turning half of Pakistan into an important state and the other half into a vessel. We must consider what other countries may be thinking of our action." That is, he was saying that a country that is backed and supported by the Soviet Union would dominate or defeat a country that is an ally of the US. And if that happens, how will it be viewed internationally, we should think about that. That is, Kissinger was saying that it should not happen that India completely defeats Pakistan. In the same meeting, he also said, "There can be no doubt what the President wants. The President does not want to be even-handed. The President believes that India is the attacker. We are trying to get across the idea that India has jeopardized relations with the United States." He was also saying that President Nixon believes, he thinks that in this entire conflict, India has attacked; India is the attacker, and this perception should be formed. He was completely ignoring what the civilian situation was in East Pakistan in 1971. What massacres were happening there? Were people being killed? Completely ignoring this, he wanted to create this opinion in this conflict that India is the attacker, and this is what should be conveyed. And therefore, the US should not appear even-handed. That is, it should not appear that the US is acting very cautiously. The US action should be such that it sends a clear signal to India that the US is against this conflict. That is, through this action of the US, India should feel that America is now also involved in this war. And India should take any action with the realization that American presence is also there. The reasoning behind the US doing this was that if a country backed by the Soviet Union defeats or dominates a country that has good relations with China and is also supported by the US, then this event will have a negative international impact. And there are some countries in Central Asia like Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, which have decent relations with Pakistan. So, if an image is to be created among them that the US comes to help, then it is necessary to show its presence in this situation. Also, the US was thinking that we are trying to build new relations with China right now. So, at this opportunity, if we don't support an ally of China, it will be bad. On top of that, one of their concerns was that in 1959, they had a bilateral agreement with Pakistan in which the US had promised Pakistan that if there was any attack from India, America would come to Pakistan's support. And ultimately, looking at this entire situation through the lens of the Cold War, America also feared that if we do not stop the Soviet Union-backed country here, then the Soviet Union will gain the confidence and boldness in other parts of the world to take action elsewhere. So, our dominance in the Cold War in some places could be compromised. So, considering all these things, the American leadership had to take some action that would show that they wanted to support Pakistan. But what exactly should this action be? For this, on December 10th, American President Richard Nixon formed a task group. He gathered some US Navy ships, including the biggest and most powerful ship, the USS Enterprise, which is an aircraft carrier, nuclear-powered. Along with it, an amphibious assault ship, guided-missile destroyers, a guided-missile frigate, and a landing ship. These ships were combined to form Task Force 74. Now, at this time, in December 1971, the USS Enterprise was in the Gulf of Tonkin area. There, it was supporting the operations in which the Americans were involved in Vietnam. So, now on December 10th, the USS Enterprise was included in Task Force 74 and ordered to leave the Gulf of Tonkin and proceed towards Singapore. Only these orders were given. Nothing specific was mentioned further. This is a very surprising thing because when you form a task force, a task group, and move some ships from one place to another, you clearly tell them where you are going and what your objective will be there. But nothing was specified in terms of specifics to this task group. And Admiral Elmo Zumwalt of the US Navy, who was the Chief of Naval Operations at that time, said this in his book. He said that he received orders from above to form the task group and proceed to Singapore, but no clear orders were given, nor did clear orders come from the President, nor were there any clear instructions from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. And because of this, Admiral Zumwalt did not want this task group to be formed and sent to an area where the task group and the sailors within it could be in danger. But still, because orders had come, these ships left the Gulf of Tonkin and reached near Singapore, waiting for further orders. On December 12th, they received fresh orders from Washington. These orders stated that you should cross the Strait of Malacca and proceed towards the Indian Ocean. But shortly after, these orders were canceled. And the next day, orders came again, and these orders were exactly the same as the previous ones: you should proceed from the Strait of Malacca towards the Indian Ocean. But one more condition was added. The task group was told to do most of its sailing during the daytime, in daylight. Because the Americans wanted to show that as they were passing through this strait, any ships nearby or any satellites above should clearly see that US ships could now proceed towards the Bay of Bengal. That is, the US Navy was going to get involved in the action going on between the Indian military and the Pakistani military in East Pakistan. Now, because this task group, which included the USS Enterprise, a very large aircraft carrier, was moving in daylight, people would see it, and questions would arise. So, why is this aircraft carrier going towards the Indian Ocean? What cover story did Washington create for this? They said that we are sending this task group there because some Americans are stranded in East Pakistan. This task group is going to evacuate them. Which was a very, you could say, weak excuse. Because if you have some people stranded, firstly, the number of people stranded was less than 100, and to rescue the people stranded, there are ways where you would use fewer resources and rescue them relatively easily. For that, you don't need to form a task force, especially one that includes an aircraft carrier. So, everyone knew, in fact, people in the Soviet Union and India also knew that this cover story being given was just a cover story. The real reason was not why American ships were coming here. And another very interesting thing is that before these American ships were about to leave Singapore and head towards the Indian Ocean, in fact, two days before that, all the remaining Americans had already been evacuated. This was the ground reality, but the cover story told was that we are going to evacuate them, whereas there was no one left to evacuate. So, now, while the Americans were doing all this, Kissinger also contacted the Soviet Union and told them that we are increasing our naval activity here. We are sending a fleet of ships that will go to East Pakistan and try to help people there. He also informed them that we are doing this because we had a bilateral agreement with Pakistan in 1959, and it had a protocol that we would help them if there was any military action from India. He was telling this to the Soviet Union. This was basically to warn them that if you do something there, our presence is also there. So, in a way, he had informed the Soviet Union that we are doing something there. What are you going to do? What did the Soviet Union do? When this war began on December 3rd, and a little before that, the presence of the Soviet Union's navy in this entire region was significant. At that time, they had two minesweepers, two destroyers, and one oiler there. But as this war began and gradually progressed, the presence of the Soviet Union's navy also started increasing here. Firstly, a minesweeper and a destroyer were already scheduled to pass through the Strait of Malacca to relieve the existing Soviet fleet here, and two ships were coming for that. But because the war was going on here in East Pakistan, these two ships did not relieve; they stayed here. So, two ships that were supposed to be for relief were acting as reinforcements. And even before Kissinger was talking to the Soviet Union, around December 6th-7th, a Soviet task force had departed from Vladivostok to come to this area. This task force included a cruiser with cruise missiles and some escort with it. And it was heading towards East Pakistan from the Pacific Fleet.
There was. And after a few more days, another task force from the Soviet Union. The second task force was also entering this region from there. So, when this first task force was passing through the Strait of Tsushima around December 9th. Then, from Japan and the Americans, they received clear information that a Soviet task force was also now moving towards the Indian Ocean. But here comes the biggest twist. On December 16th, the commanders of the Pakistani forces inside East Pakistan, Lieutenant General Niazi, surrendered, and with him, 93,000 Pakistani troops laid down their arms. This surrender is one of the biggest surrenders in modern human history. Now, a ceasefire happened on December 16th. After that, there were dramatic changes in the entire naval situation that was developing here. The USS Enterprise, with its task group, had reached so close to the Bay of Bengal that if they had sailed for some more time, their planes would have come within effective range of the Bay of Bengal. But right after that, Soviet ships also arrived here. So, when the surrender was signed, in the weeks that followed, this is December. So, until the early weeks of January, American ships and Soviet ships behind them were chasing each other. These people were circling around. On top of that, Admiral Zumwalt, who initially did not want the task group to be sent here because there was danger, convinced his superiors by saying that there was no benefit in going there at this time because there was no clear objective. We should turn our task group, not towards the Bay of Bengal, but towards Ceylon, i.e., Sri Lanka. So, the route of this task group did not go north towards the Bay of Bengal, but turned and started coming towards Ceylon. And then, the Soviet task force was also following them. And then, as I told you, that Soviet task force was chasing that USS task group. They circled each other a few times, and during all this, it also happened once that when the Soviet ships knew that American satellites were going to pass overhead. At that very time, some Soviet submarines also came to the surface of the water. They surfaced. This was to show the Americans, to tell them that look, there are Soviet submarines here. There is a Soviet task force. So, it doesn't happen that if someone accidentally attacks someone, a big nuclear Armageddon occurs. So, the US and Soviet task forces kept circling, and finally, on January 8, 1972, an order came from above that the US task group had to leave here and exit the Indian Ocean region. And thus, this small episode of the USS Enterprise ended here. What was the Indian response to this? So, on the political front, the response was very calm and non-chalant. They expected something like this to happen because they were already thinking that since the Americans have decent relations with Pakistan, they would try to intervene here. On top of that, the Soviets were continuously informing the Indian Navy and Indian political leadership that American ships had left from there and were coming into this region. On top of that, since the Soviets were also sending their task forces, it was not something new for the political leadership that, oh, American ships are coming here. The second thing was that at that time, the narrative was going around that the Americans had sent the USS Enterprise here because the Soviet Union had sent its task force to help India win in East Pakistan. India completely rejected this because the USS Enterprise and its task group had arrived in the Indian Ocean region first, and after that, the Soviet Union's first and second task forces arrived. So, the idea that the Americans came there because the Soviet Union was sending a task force is not true. Now, the biggest question that arises here is, did the task group that the US sent here do what the US political leadership wanted? Because the amazing thing is that this task group was not given any objectives. They were just told that you have to go to the Indian Ocean region and protect US interests there. What exactly to do was not specified. And because of this, even the US's own admirals were very unhappy about this. US National Security Advisor Kissinger, in his book "The White House Years," has written that because they sent this task group here. That one thing, and the second thing, the Americans were putting pressure on Delhi through the Soviet Union because they were continuously telling the Soviet Union that we are sending our ships, something might go wrong there, something big might happen. Because of both these things, sending the task group plus putting pressure through the Soviet Union. Because of both these things, after achieving victory in East Pakistan, the Indian military forces did not attack towards Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and West Pakistan. This is what Henry Kissinger writes in his book. His belief is that if this task group had not been sent, it might have happened that the Indian forces, who had achieved a decisive victory in East Pakistan, would have mobilized all those forces and then attacked towards Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, and India would have annexed some territory of Pakistan. Talking about the Soviet Ambassador, he has written in his book that during the preparation for a summit with the US, he spoke with Kissinger. And he says that Kissinger told him that the naval situation that was created in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean in December 1971 had gone a bit out of hand. It should not have been that bad. And Kissinger also said that he recalled this task group, and the fighting did not go out of hand. The fighting ended. Because the Soviet Union had assured the Americans that India had no intention of attacking West Pakistan. And amidst all this, what was India's stance? So, Indian Defense Secretary Dr. K.B. Lal, in his book, says that when the ceasefire happened in East Pakistan on December 16th and the result came out there. The Indian forces had won. After that, there was a debate for some time whether any military action should be taken in West Pakistan. But ultimately, the decision was made that if any major military operation was carried out in West Pakistan, it could lead to instability there, and the turmoil happening in Central Asia, which is currently at Pakistan's borders, could come to India's borders. Because of this, the Indian leadership's only objective was to achieve victory in East Pakistan. To solve the security situation that had arisen there, where so much bloodshed was happening in East Pakistan and people were fleeing to India. No military operation regarding West Pakistan was planned at that time, and therefore, to say that the arrival of the USS Enterprise had any impact on the war in East Pakistan or that India changed its stance because of their arrival is completely wrong because when the USS Enterprise arrived there, the decision of the war in East Pakistan had already been made, the surrender was signed on December 16th, so the arrival of the USS Enterprise had no impact on the thinking of the Indian leadership as far as West Pakistan is concerned. There was no plan for any military operation in West Pakistan at all. Regarding this entire episode, the then head of the Indian Navy's Eastern Command, Vice Admiral Krishnan, has written in his book "No Way But Surrender" that the cover story created for the USS Enterprise's arrival, that it was coming to evacuate Americans, was just an excuse. Everyone knew that nothing like that was happening. It was possible that the USS Enterprise might try to fulfill some objectives here. The Indian Navy estimated at that time that it could do four things. First, it could deploy some of its marines in East Pakistan to help the Pakistani forces. Second, the fighter planes on this aircraft carrier could assist the Pakistani forces in ground operations. Third, its planes could engage any Pakistani ships that were trying to attack or any ships docked in the harbor. And fourth, this aircraft carrier could help evacuate any ships from East Pakistan's harbor, Chittagong harbor, if some troops, some senior Pakistani officers, were trying to escape from here. Of these four possibilities, the top three were dismissed. Because, firstly, it was not clear whether this task group that had arrived here had enough marines to actually land on the ground and help the Pakistani forces. So, the first case is very unlikely. Plus, it was also not known whether the Americans would actually commit their ground troops to this war. Because the war in Vietnam was already going on. Second, if the Americans provided air cover to support ground operations or attacked Indian Air Force planes or Indian ships, what would happen? It would lead to a direct war between the Indian Navy, i.e., India, and the US. And no one wanted this to happen. Because Krishnan says in his book that if America fought a war with India, they would face a challenge a thousand times bigger in India than what they were doing in Vietnam, because they could not win the war in India at any cost. The fourth point, that this aircraft carrier could help in evacuation, was possible. This was likely to happen. And therefore, Vice Admiral Krishnan gave orders that no planes from East Pakistan's Chittagong harbor and its airport should be allowed to try to evacuate officers or troops by water. And that is why the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force damaged all the Pakistani camouflage ships in the airfield and harbor in Chittagong, and no evacuation, this attempt to escape, was successful. So, even if the USS Enterprise had come so close to the Bay of Bengal that it could provide air cover to the ships coming from here, trying to escape. Then, the Indian Navy had already ensured that no ship could leave from there. They could not take advantage of that air cover. So, ultimately, the USS Enterprise would not have provided any decisive military advantage to either the US or the Pakistani forces fighting in East Pakistan. But it is true that after this USS Enterprise episode, India took seriously the idea that if your naval presence is very strong in a particular area, how you can put pressure or psychological pressure on the opposing country. And related to this is a very famous term, gunboat diplomacy. That is, you talk about diplomacy with another country on the surface, but at the same time, you have sent a task force there, or a squadron of your ships, a fleet, and stationed it nearby, so that if our talks fail, our ships are still there. For this gunboat diplomacy, America is often criticized for conducting its diplomacy in this manner. After this episode, the Indian Navy took note that our naval presence should be strong, and in the coming years, more expenditure was made on the Indian Navy, and more attention was paid to the modernization of their ships. As I said at the beginning of this video, this episode of the USS Enterprise is still remembered when India, Russia, and the United States talk about their international relations together, because from a military standpoint, it was a very big moment for the Indian armed forces, especially the Navy and Air Force, because it clearly showed which country or which armed force would come to your support if needed. Now, there is a lot of discussion about this entire episode, and depending on which country's people you talk to, you will get a different perspective. The most in-depth, or you could say, the most authoritative voice from the American side regarding what the Americans did here is that of National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. In his book "The White House Years," he has written a lot about this incident. I will tell you exactly what he wrote. "Our paramount concerns transcended the subcontinent. The Soviet Union could have restrained India; it chose not to. It had, in fact, actively encouraged war by signing the Friendship Treaty, giving diplomatic support to India's maximum demands, airlifting military supplies, and pledging to veto inconvenient resolutions in the UN Security Council." That is, he is saying that the Soviet Union could have not supported India, could have not helped them, but they were continuously helping India, not allowing any resolution against India to pass in the Security Council. He further says, "Had we followed the advice of our critics, massive public dissociation from Pakistan and confrontation with it in the moment of desperation, we would have been operating precisely as the US-Soviet condominium so dreaded by Peking. This all but surely would have undone a China initiative." That is, he is saying that at that time, many people in the American public were also saying that Pakistan should not be supported here. But if they had done so, the US's relations with China would have soured a bit, and they were trying to build a relationship with China. Since China was with America at that time, if the US had not stood with any of China's allies, this would have caused problems. This is what Henry Kissinger says. He also says that "On December 2, Pakistani Ambassador Raja Dward a letter from Yahya Khan to President Nixon invoking Article I of the 1959 Mutual Defense Agreement between the United States and Pakistan as the basis for US aid to Pakistan. The American obligation to Pakistan was thus formally raised. The treaty with Pakistan was identical to several other bilateral and multilateral agreements, all of which our pronouncements seem to cast into doubt." That is, he has also mentioned that the treaty signed in 1959 was officially presented by the Pakistani Ambassador on December 2nd, and citing this treaty, the Americans now had to send the USS Enterprise here. So, this book, "From Transition to Triumph," talks about many major events, especially related to the Indian Navy. The link is in the description of this video if you want to check it out.