US-India Tariff Dispute Spotlighted as Indian Army Reveals 1971 Newspaper Clip Displaying US Arms Supplied to Pakistan | ANALYZED
In a striking move reminiscent of the past, the Indian Army's Eastern Command recently shared a 1971 newspaper clipping on their social media platform, with the caption "This Day That Year" Build Up of War - 05 Aug 1971. The old news report detailed the United States' supply of arms and ammunition worth approximately $2 billion to Pakistan between 1954 and 1971, including during the buildup to the 1971 Indo-Pak war.
The newspaper clipping, shared on the Indian Army's X handle, was shared in the context of escalating tariff tensions between India and the United States. The US President, Donald Trump, has threatened to impose additional tariffs on Indian goods, a response to New Delhi's trade of subsidized Russian oil.
The US arms shipments to Pakistan, as detailed in the news report, were provided at concessional or "throwaway" prices, according to the then Indian Defence Production Minister V C Shukla, who informed the Indian Parliament (Rajya Sabha) about the scale and nature of US military support to Pakistan at the time. The US support was aligned with Cold War strategic interests, as Pakistan was considered an important ally, partly due to its role in alliances like SEATO and CENTO and as a conduit to China.
The MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) has strongly objected to the US tariffs, considering them "unjustified and unreasonable." The current situation is reminiscent of the historical arms shipments from the US to Pakistan, as highlighted in the old news report shared by the Indian Army's Eastern Command.
The MEA also rebuked the European Union for singling out Indian refiners over their trade with Russia. The Indian Army's sharing of the old news report may be interpreted as a commentary on the current tariff tensions between India and the United States.
The newspaper clipping was shared to emphasize historical arms shipments from the US to Pakistan and to highlight the context leading up to the war between India and Pakistan in 1971. The year 1971 was significant as it was the year when war broke out between India and Pakistan, resulting in the formation of Bangladesh.
Additional key points from the 1971 report and historical context include:
- The US supplied a variety of military equipment to Pakistan such as fighter aircraft, missiles, tanks, submarines, and artillery.
- China also supplied arms to Pakistan at concessional rates, while France sold arms against full payment without concessions.
- The Soviet Union denied supplying arms to Pakistan, contrasting with US and Chinese support.
- During the 1971 war, as India advanced militarily toward Dhaka, the US deployed the 7th Fleet led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise to the Bay of Bengal to show support for Pakistan, illustrating the extent of US involvement beyond just arms shipments.
As the diplomatic tensions between India and the United States continue to escalate, the Indian Army's sharing of this historical news report serves as a stark reminder of the past and its potential impact on the present.
- The current tariff tensions between India and the United States, as exemplified by the US President's threat of additional tariffs on Indian goods, bear a resemblance to the political landscape of the past, such as the US's strategic supply of arms to Pakistan before the 1971 Indo-Pak war.
- The recent sharing of a 1971 newspaper clipping by the Indian Army's Eastern Command, detailing the US's arms shipments to Pakistan during the buildup to the Indo-Pak war, could be seen as commentary on the present-day situations of war-and-conflicts, politics, and general-news, given the parallels to the escalating tariff tensions between India and the United States.
