Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971
Document 203
203. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Assistant for National Security Affairs (
Kissinger
) to President
Nixon
1
Washington
,
November 26, 1971
.
SUBJECT
Information Items
India-Pakistan
: Reports in the last twenty-four hours do not reflect an escalation of the fighting. The principal activity in that period has been diplomatic.
Indian Foreign Minister Singh in a rambling two-hour conversation with Ambassador
Keating
made these points:
—Even now, it is not too late for President
Yahya
to make a dramatic political gesture. The situation would be immediately defused by such a gesture. This should involve negotiations with East Pakistanʼs elected representatives and not going ahead with “his farce of elections.” He thought
Yahya
could still free
Mujib
and start talks—if not overnight, perhaps in two or three weeks.
—If Pakistan withdrew its troops from the border then another situation would arise and India would certainly consider that situation. However,
Yahya
is only prepared to withdraw contingent on Indiaʼs reciprocal withdrawal.
—Pakistani talks of an Indian offensive was to provide an alibi for Pakistani losses. Singh said “I would like to say categorically that Indian troops are not there” (in East Pakistan). The Indian Army had gone into action when its own positions were attacked.
President
Yahya
saw Ambassador
Farland
early this morning. Reports so far—still coming in—say that
Yahya
made these points:
—In response to a tentative suggestion by
Farland
,
Yahya
said with enthusiasm that he would advise his
UN
Ambassador immediately to institute a request for
UN
observers on the Pakistani side of the border.
—He has decided next week to tell his
UN
Ambassador to take up with the
UN
High Commissioner for Refugees (
Prince Sadruddin
) the idea of inviting a large
UN
group to take complete charge of refugees returning to East Pakistan. The
UN
would have control from establishing corridors to the border to resettlement in the villages.
—He would continue to exercise the greatest possible degree of military restraint.

A further report will be furnished if later telegrams reveal more.
Indian High Commissioner Atal has returned to Islamabad from high-level consultations in New Delhi “carrying an important message.” Atal is an old friend of
Yahya
ʼs. After a long conversation with
Yahya
a week ago, Atal was reportedly impressed with
Yahya
ʼs plan to turn his government over to civilian leaders. Atal returned to New Delhi and, according to [
less than 1 line of source text not declassified
] reports from there, he planned to urge Mrs.
Gandhi
to give
Yahya
ʼs political timetable a chance. We have had no reports yet on the outcome of those talks except for the fact that he is now back in Islamabad asking to see Foreign Secretary
Sultan Khan
immediately.
On other diplomatic fronts, the press reports that Soviet Ambassador Rodionon has delivered a note to
Yahya
, but we have no firm knowledge yet of its contents. Press reports also indicate that Chou Enlai reaffirmed the Chinese support for Pakistan stated to the Pakistani delegation two weeks ago, urged discussions to avoid war and accused India of intervention in Pakistanʼs affairs.
[Omitted here are summary reports on foreign policy issues unrelated to South Asia.]
Contents
Preface
Sources
Abbreviations