Following are excerpts from a new book, ‘Treaty of Peace, Friendship & Cooperation, 1971 commemorating Indian Russian relations’ by Achala Moulik.
TREATY OF PEACE, FRIENDSHIP & COOPERATION OF 1971
This landmark treaty which was a departure from India’s non-alignment, was signed on 9th August 1971 on the 29th anniversary of the commencement of the Quit India movement. As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation it would be worthwhile to assess the significance of the treaty and how it safeguarded India’s security while sending out a message against gunboat diplomacy tactics of powerful states on other states.
The Treaty enabled India to assist an oppressed people to form a sovereign state with the support of Soviet Union whose power guaranteed regional peace and security.
The cordial cooperation between the two nations was transformed into a deeper one, involving Soviet Union with India during an armed conflict against Pakistan which was perpetrating carnage and genocide against a people who had rightfully wanted a representative government and who had revolted against the inequality and persecution by their fellow-Muslims in West Pakistan. The revolt in East Bengal made a mockery of Jinnah’s plan for a Muslim state.
It was the first political treaty India made with another nation. It was in fact a turning point in India’s traditional non-aligned policy so vigorously enunciated at Bandung in 1955.
Soviet Union did not propose the treaty nor did it pressurise India to do so. The treaty was the result of Pakistan’s folly and intransigence. Had USA not supported and aided Pakistan, had the civil war in East Bengal been treated as an internal problem, it is possible that Indira Gandhi may not have sought this alliance, which purportedly one of friendship and cooperation, was actually a military one which assured India of military assistance in possible future armed conflicts with other states.
The Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation of 1971 became a robust counter-weight to the menacing Washington-Beijing-Islamabad axis. The Treaty would protect India’s vital geopolitical interests and safeguard her sovereignty and territorial integrity. By curbing hegemonic designs of the USA-China-Pakistan Axis, the Treaty also guaranteed security and peace on the Indian sub-continent.
The Treaty stipulated that “Each High Contracting party solemnly declares that it shall not enter any obligation, secret or public, with one or more states, which is incompatible with this treaty. Each High Contracting party further declares that no obligation be entered into, between itself and any other state or states which might cause military damage to the other party.”
This clause of the Treaty unambiguously stipulated that neither India nor the Soviet Union would enter into “any obligation” which might cause military damage to the other country is of fundamental importance.
The most significant clauses of the Treaty were Articles 8, 9 and 10. Article No. 8 declared that neither state shall ‘enter into or participate in any military alliance directed against the other party’. Article No. 9 of the Treaty stated that the contracting parties would enter into mutual consultations when either of the parties is subjected to an attack so as to remove the threat and to take appropriate measures to maintain the security of the region. This Article guaranteed that if either of the parties is attacked or threatened with attack then India and the Soviet Union will ‘immediately start mutual consultations with a view to eliminating this threat’.
This clause was an unequivocal warning to the Pakistan-China-US axis. During the Indo-Pak war this clause acted as a deterrent to Chinese opium-induced dreams to attack India’s northern frontier. USA sent its Seventh Fleet to cruise along the Bay of Bengal to intimidate India and assist Pakistan. But the treaty thwarted any US plan of intervention.
While signing the historic treaty in Delhi, the Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko stated: “There are moments in relations between states when important events occur which take decades to ripen and are in fact a result of the entire preceding development of these relations. For the Soviet Union and India such an important landmark is the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Co-operation which has just been signed”
In the joint Indo-Soviet communiqué he reiterated: “The Treaty is a logical outcome of the relations of sincere friendship: respect, mutual trust and the many-sided ties which had been established between the two countries in the course of many years and which had stood the test of time.”
Indian Foreign Minister Swaran Singh stated that the treaty was “in essence a treaty of peace against war”. He voiced the general feeling in India when he stated before Parliament: “We shall not allow any other country or combination of countries to dominate us or to interfere in our internal affairs. We shall, to our maximum ability, help other countries to maintain their freedom from outside domination, and their sovereignty. We have no desire to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, but this does not mean we shall look on as silent spectators if third countries come and interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, particularly our neighbours, as our own national interest could be adversely affected.”
The Soviet newspaper Pravda voiced the opinion of the Soviet government and the significance of the Treaty. Pravda stated that the Treaty had strongly “restrained Pakistan and her allies from embarking on a course of military adventurism on the subcontinent” and would “continue to act as a deterrent against their hegemonic goals. Soviet Union thereby delivered a stern warning to Pakistan, China and USA.”
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LIBERATION OF BANGLADESH
Strangely enough, the Indo-Soviet Treaty did not restrain Pakistan’s hostilities against India nor control its oppression in the newly named state of Bangladesh. The American Consulate in Dhaka reported the terrible state of affairs and advised the American government to tell the Pakistani government to halt the atrocities or risk a civil war between West and East Pakistan. The wannabe Metternich, Kissinger, ignored the advice of the American Consul General and asked him to mind his own business.
Moscow anticipated armed conflict and sent Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister, N.P. Firyubin to Delhi for consultations. The Chief of Air Staff of India invited the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Air Force to Delhi in October 1971 for discussions on future strategy. The latter stated at the meeting, “Military experts always discuss things secretly. But let me tell you that in the event of any attack in madness, either by a person or by a nation, the 250 million people of the Soviet Union, with all their might shall back India as her trusted friend.”
The Soviet Union thrice vetoed attempts at the Security Council of United Nations where USA and UK tried to prevent India from giving military support to Bangladesh forces.
Emboldened by American and Chinese support, Pakistan unwisely declared war on India on 3rd December 1971. It attacked Indian airfields along her western frontier. General Manekshaw decided to deploy limited troops on the western border and focus on East Bengal. The Indian Army Engineers played a significant role in bridging the numerous rivers.
India attacked Pakistan Army clusters in East Pakistan; troops from West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura were sent to Bangladesh. The Indian Air Force dropped paratroopers from the Para Brigade on Tangail, and then proceeded towards Dhaka. The city was occupied by forces under the command of Lt. Gen. Sagat Singh. This demoralized Pakistani forces. The Indian Air Force prevailed on the skies. The Indian Navy achieved tremendous success in their operation at Pakistan’s Karachi harbour. In early December the Indian Air Force attacked East Pakistan air bases while the Indian Navy took control of the ports of Dhaka and Chittagong, thereby blocking Pakistani navy ships. Unfazed, USA continued to support Pakistan.
On 10th December 1971, Indian Intelligence intercepted an American message (perhaps intended to be intercepted) that the Gulf of Tonkin based US Seventh Fleet led by the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise and carrying seventy fighters and bombers, was sailing towards the Indian Ocean. Nixon asked the British and Chinese Navies to assist Pakistan. Britain agreed but China, reluctant to take on the Soviet Union, declined. Indeed, fearing the consequences of the Indo-Soviet Peace and Friendship Treaty, China did not launch military intervention against India.
India’s Eastern Fleet was tasked with the defence of India’s territorial waters. Since the Seventh Fleet was sent to assist Pakistan the Indian Air Force prepared for a strike if there was attack from the ship USS Enterprise. The Indian government was deeply anxious about such a possibility as this meant war against super power USA.
Critics of the Indo-Soviet Treaty would do well to remember what happened next. In fact what followed was vindication of the Indian government’s alliance with Soviet Union.
While USA sent its nuclear-powered Seventh Fleet to intimidate and take action against India, news came on 13th December that Soviet Union’s nuclear armed submarines based in Vladivostok had arrived in the Indian Ocean. This was to pre-empt any USA-UK attack on Indian military targets. The Soviet nuclear sub-marines encircled the Seventh Fleet.
The British Fleet Commander informed the U.S. Seventh Fleet Commander: “Sir, we are too late. There are Russian atomic submarines here and a big collection of battleships.” This deterred the US Fleet from proceeding to the ports of Chittagong and Cox Bazar.
The Chief of Army Staff, General S.H.F.J. Manekshaw broadcast a message to Pakistani army there that if they surrendered to the Indian Army, their security will be guaranteed, and they would be evacuated from East Pakistan and repatriated to West Pakistan. He also assured them that there would be no reprisals by Bangladeshi forces. Pamphlets with this message were air-dropped at Pakistani military bases. Resistance of West Pakistani forces was weakened by this strategy. The Pakistani army hierarchy now saw the futility of further resistance.
East Pakistan ceased to exist. That land was now named Bangladesh.
The Indian Para Brigade advanced towards Dhaka on 14th December. Lt. Gen. A.A.K. Niazi informed Major General J.F.R Jacob then Chief of Staff of the Eastern Command, based at Dhaka, that he had permission from Islamabad to surrender. Lt. General. Niazi informed the American Consul General in Dhaka for onward transmission of the message to President Nixon and Kissinger.
The humiliating surrender by Lt. General Niazi to Gen J.S. Aurora, GOC-of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army took place on 16th December 1971 in the Dhaka Maidan.
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announced news of victory in Parliament. Later that evening she broadcast to the Indian nation that the war had ended. Quietly, she paid tribute to those who had laid down their lives in a battle against oppression. In a voice of deep emotion she concluded: “Those who have taken refuge in India can now return safely to their shonar Bangla.”
The Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship enabled India to triumph during its worse crisis since independence. It also enabled the birth of a new sovereign nation—Bangladesh.
A new state was born through a war of liberation by its oppressed people and supported by India and Soviet Union. The new state Bangladesh adopted Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s song “Amar Shonar Bangla” (My Golden Bangla) as its national anthem. Gurudev had composed this song during another Bengali crisis—the proposed partition of Bengal by Viceroy Lord Curzon—sixty six years earlier.
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THE AFTERMATH: INDO-SOVIET COOPERATION
Events of December 1971 indicated that the Indo-Soviet Treaty would guarantee stability in the Indian sub-continent. The creation of a liberated Bangladesh friendly to India sent a message to Pakistan not to indulge in further military adventurism. The superpower USA was told not to encourage warfare between nations. The Treaty was also a triumph of Soviet diplomacy. The Treaty enhanced Indian and Russian prestige in the world.
Indeed, the Indo-Soviet Treaty of 1971 marked the beginning of strong Soviet-Indian cooperation. When USA brought adverse Resolutions against India at the Security Council of the United Nations, Soviet Union vetoed these Pakistan-inspired Resolutions on three occasions. USA considered itself leader of “the free world”. But India demonstrated that she and Soviet Union were prepared to fight for the freedom of an oppressed people—whatever the economic imperatives might have been.
Achala Moulik is a retired civil servant and recipient of the Pushkin Medal and Yesenin Prize from the Russian Federation. The excerpts are from her new book, “Treaty of Peace, Friendship & Cooperation, 1971 commemorating Indian Russian relations”. Published by Authors Upfront.