In 1954, in conjunction with similar events in the Daman enclaves of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, merger activists from India occupied Fort Santo António then withdrew after having hoisted the Indian flag. On 19 December 1961, in the course of the Indian invasion of Portuguese India, the small garrison of the fort was the last military contingent to surrender in Portuguese India, through the intermediary of a Portuguese officer of Diu who had reached Fort Santo António on an Indian army vessel.