'Arms worth $2 bn shipped since 1954': After Trump's hypocrisy over Russian oil, Indian Army rakes up US' aid to Pakistan in 1971 war

Just a day after Donald Trump warned India of higher tariffs if it continued buying oil from Russia, the Indian Army offered a quiet but pointed reminder of history. The Army’s post came just 24 hours after Trump threatened New Delhi with higher levies if India continued buying Russian oil. Trump said he would “substantially raise tariffs on goods from India” beyond the current 25 per cent if India didn’t back off its energy ties with Moscow.

The Indian Army’s Eastern Command shared a newspaper clipping dated August 5, 1971, with the caption: "This day, that year build up of war - August 5, 1971." The headline of the article read: "US arms worth $2 billion shipped to Pakistan since ’54." The piece also accused NATO powers of overlooking Islamabad’s aggression in Bangladesh.

 

 

 

The article referred to a statement made in Parliament by then Defence Production Minister V.C. Shukla. He said that while countries like France and the Soviet Union had refused to sell weapons to Pakistan, the United States continued to supply arms despite the rising tensions.

The minister also pointed out that NATO countries ignored Pakistan’s actions in Bangladesh during the 1971 conflict. The article claimed that both the US and China sold weapons to Pakistan at “throwaway prices,” suggesting that Pakistan fought the war using arms provided by them.

The clipping came from a time when tensions in South Asia were escalating rapidly. Just months later, India would intervene in support of Bangladesh’s independence, in what became one of the most defining military operations in the region.

India responded to Trump’s threats with a sharply worded rebuttal, taking apart Washington’s own double standards. New Delhi pointed out that the US had “actively encouraged such imports” from Russia in the early months of the Ukraine war, when energy prices were skyrocketing.

The Ministry of External Affairs also pushed back at the European Union’s criticism of Indian crude exports, saying Indian purchases were “a necessity compelled by the global market situation.” It added that several countries targeting India were themselves “indulging in trade with Russia” even though “such trade is not even a vital compulsion.”

In July, Donald Trump stirred things up again by calling India a “dead economy” and announcing several new trade deals with Pakistan.