Nixon's dislike of 'witch' Indira

[Mallu]

Nixon's dislike of 'witch' Indira

Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon
Kissinger and Nixon opposed an independent Bangladesh
Ex-US President Richard Nixon called Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi an "old witch", according to recently released documents from the 1970s.

His national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, said "the Indians are bastards anyway" in the run-up to the India-Pakistan war of 1971.

At the time, the US saw India as too close to the then Soviet Union.


Link:BBC NEWS | South Asia | Nixon's dislike of 'witch' Indira

The US state department has declassified many documents this month on US foreign policy of the time.

One key conversation transcript comes from the meeting between President Nixon and Mr Kissinger in the White House on 5 November 1971, shortly after a meeting with the visiting Indira Gandhi.


MAY 26 1971
Kissinger: They are the most aggressive goddamn people around there
Nixon: The Indians?
Kissinger: Yeah
Nixon: Sure

"We really slobbered over the old witch," says President Nixon.

"The Indians are bastards anyway," says Mr Kissinger. "They are starting a war there."

He adds: "While she was a *****, we got what we wanted too. She will not be able to go home and say that the United States didn't give her a warm reception and therefore in despair she's got to go to war."

'Special relationship'

The Indo-Pakistan war took place between November and December 1971.


Richard Nixon
The Pakistanis are straightforward and sometimes extremely stupid. The Indians are more devious, sometimes so smart that we fall for their line
Richard Nixon

It had its roots in demands in 1970 by East Pakistan, later Bangladesh, for independence.

In March 1971, Pakistan's military acted to put down the secessionists there. Millions fled to India's West Bengal state.

India supported an independent Bangladesh and ties with the US plummeted in August 1971 when Delhi signed a treaty with the Soviet Union that included mutual military assistance in case of war.

President Nixon, on the other hand, had developed a "special relationship" with Pakistan's then military dictator, General Yahya Khan.

In a White House conversation with Mr Kissinger on 4 June 1971, President Nixon berates his ambassador to India, Kenneth Keating, for wanting to, as Mr Kissinger puts it, "help India push the Pakistanis out".

President Nixon says: "I don't want him to come in with that kind of jackass thing with me... Keating, like every ambassador who goes over there, goes over there and gets sucked in."

Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi sought stronger links with the Soviet Union

Mr Kissinger then says: "Those sons-of-bitches, who never have lifted a finger for us, why should we get involved in the morass of East Pakistan?

"If East Pakistan becomes independent, it is going to become a cesspool. It's going to be 100 million people, they have the lowest standard of living in Asia."

President Nixon replies: "Yeah."

Mr Kissinger: "They're going to become a ripe field for communist infiltration."

President Nixon then openly courted China to try to turn the tide of the war Pakistan's way.

With the Indian army and armed Bengali separatists winning, the US on 10 December 1971 urged Beijing to mobilise troops towards India, saying the US would back it if the Soviet Union became involved.

China declined and on 16 December the war ended with the Indian army and Bengali separatists taking Dhaka.

Exiled leaders had declared Bangladesh independent on 26 March 1971 and, in 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned to become the country's first prime minister.


LinK:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4633263.stm

 

[Spring Onion]

Ahhh the bi.tch, the banyas, the terrorists, the yankees, the idiot Pakistani political leaders played the dirty game.

Indians can never be loyal to US thats the bottom line.

Yankees need to beware of Indian double game.

Note: Sorry i realier put India in the place of US in red so edited

 

[third eye]

Ahhh the bi.tch, the banyas, the terrorists, the yankees, the idiot Pakistani political leaders played the dirty game.

Indians can never be loyal to India thats the bottom line.

Yankees need to beware of Indian double game.

An uncalled for sweeping statement.

 

[Spring Onion]

An uncalled for sweeping statement.

i meant to US not to India

see i am in love with India so much

 

[SU50]

Nixon's dislike of 'witch' Indira

With the Indian army and armed Bengali separatists winning, the US on 10 December 1971 urged Beijing to mobilise troops towards India, saying the US would back it if the Soviet Union became involved.

China declined and on 16 December the war ended with the Indian army and Bengali separatists taking Dhaka.[/url]

So china single handily avoided the world war 3. Nice.

 

[third eye]

i meant to US not to India

see i am in love with India so much

Glad you have amended the post.

Why should India be ' loyal' to anyone but India ? US, USSR/ Russia etc .. no one helps anyone. World over all nations only protect their own interests.

 

[Spring Onion]

Glad you have amended the post.

Why should India be ' loyal' to anyone but India ? US, USSR/ Russia etc .. no one helps anyone. World over all nations only protect their own interests.

Nobody is saying that India or for that matter any country should be loyal to any other country as everyone acts in on favour.

The point was that countries should look for little reliable partners

 

[ek_indian]

The point was that countries should look for little reliable partners

We already have them.

 

[Justin Joseph]

Nobody is saying that India or for that matter any country should be loyal to any other country as everyone acts in on favour.

The point was that countries should look for little reliable partners

In your supreme judgment Obama should consult Jana before making any decision in this regard?????


India is more than reliable we don't play double games.

 

[BJlaowai]

Ahhh the bi.tch, the banyas, the terrorists, the yankees, the idiot Pakistani political leaders played the dirty game.

Indians can never be loyal to US thats the bottom line.

Yankees need to beware of Indian double game.

Note: Sorry i realier put India in the place of US in red so edited

yeah, true. India can never be loyal to anyone, because we are our own masters, and not a servant/slave/hired mercenary of anyone, unlike some country's in our neighborhood.

 

[Windjammer]

yeah, true. India can never be loyal to anyone, because we are our own masters, and not a servant/slave/hired mercenary of anyone, unlike some country's in our neighborhood.

One wonders why then India was bending over back wards offering seaports, air corridors, logistics and what not to America during the Afghan campaign specially when the Americans didn't even ask for them. I think it's termed, presenting yourself on a platter.

 

[RAHUL INDIAN]

One wonders why then India was bending over back wards offering seaports, air corridors, logistics and what not to America during the Afghan campaign specially when the Americans didn't even ask for them. I think it's termed, presenting yourself on a platter.

that is to promote our own interest...as we want stable and prosperous Afghanistan, where there is no place for extremists...how is it related to being loyal or not...

 

[thebrownguy]

One wonders why then India was bending over back wards offering seaports, air corridors, logistics and what not to America during the Afghan campaign specially when the Americans didn't even ask for them. I think it's termed, presenting yourself on a platter.

Lol, looks like they managed to get a better deal with Pakistan who not only offered the same, "on a platter in your words", but also promised to go the extra mile, for a few bucks, if you know what I mean.

Anyways, this has nothing to do with Nixon.

 

[BJlaowai]

One wonders why then India was bending over back wards offering seaports, air corridors, logistics and what not to America during the Afghan campaign specially when the Americans didn't even ask for them. I think it's termed, presenting yourself on a platter.

Thats called strategic partnership to achieve common goal. These are alliances between equal partners. Not a master-slave relationship.. where one country looses its sovereignty of whole or part of their territory..

 

[Novice09]

Indians can never be loyal to US thats the bottom line.

My question for Jana is… Why should we help US, just forget about being loyal?

They aren’t our friend. They aren’t our allies. Indo-US relationships are flourishing from past few years but before Mr. Clinton, US was not that important to us and vise-versa.

After Pokhran II US banned us (India). Still we prospered and strengthened our economy. At that point of time, US recognized the importance of India to counter China. They befriended us. They offered high tech military technology to us and we paid them for that. A complete buyer-seller relationship; trust could be their but loyalty

One wonders why then India was bending over back wards offering seaports, air corridors, logistics and what not to America during the Afghan campaign specially when the Americans didn't even ask for them. I think it's termed, presenting yourself on a platter.

We do offer seaports, air corridors, logistics and what not to America during the Afghan campaign because Taliban was a threat to us (India). We did whatever was required to out throw them.

Still we don’t allow them to shoot missiles in our territory and kill our people. Yes, they are killing terrorists, but we could do that by our own; without getting paid for in form of donations.