Henry Kissinger Reveals Why The US Supported Pakistan In 1971

The Pakistani channel of talks between the United States (US) and China would have collapsed if the US had publicly condemned human rights violations and atrocities by Pakistan’s army against the people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has revealed in a recent interview with Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.

For better understanding, one must know that US’ opening to China, which was facilitated by Pakistan, began in 1969. The crisis in Bangladesh, on the other hand, made no news until the early 1970s.

In 1971, when hostilities broke out between India and Pakistan over latter’s genocide of the Bengali population in East Pakistan and the refugee crisis that ensued, Islamabad was acting as an interlocutor to facilitate exchanges between Beijing and Washington at a time when the relations between the two were virtually non-existent.

By the time the crisis in Bangladesh reached its peak, the US had conducted a number of highly secret exchanges with China, and was on the verge of achieving a breakthrough.

"To condemn these violations publicly would have destroyed the Pakistani channel, which would be needed for months to complete the opening to China, which indeed was launched from Pakistan," he said.

The then Nixon administration considered the opening to China as essential to a potential diplomatic recasting towards the Soviet Union and the pursuit of peace.

Kissinger said:

This is a stunning revelation, one that is hard to believe especially because Pakistan invaded India the next month, pointing to its role in creating a crisis in East Pakistan.

"The following December, India, after having made a treaty including military provisions with the Soviet Union, and in order to relieve the strain of refugees, invaded East Pakistan (which is today Bangladesh)," he said.

By claiming that India invaded Pakistan, Kissinger once again exposes his undying bias towards Islamabad. The war broke out on 3 December 1971 as Pakistan Air Force launched a pre-emptive strike on eleven Indian airfields.

This is perhaps the best time to recall that Kissinger had once labelled India as a Soviet stooge over its support for Bangladeshi independence. “We’re in the position where a Soviet stooge, supported with Soviet arms, is overrunning a country that is an ally of the United States.” Kissinger had said in a telephone conversation with then US President Richard Nixon.

Further, Kissinger said that the US had to navigate between Soviet pressures; Indian objectives; Chinese suspicions; and Pakistani nationalism.

He argued:

Read the full interview here.