New Delhi: Amid escalating tension with the United States over trade with Russia, the Indian Army slammed America for providing military support to Pakistan over the decades. The Indian Army's Eastern Command shared an old newspaper cutting from 1971 showing how Washington supported Islamabad before the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
"This Day That Year" Build Up of War - 05 Aug 1971 #KnowFacts. πΌ.πΊ π¨πΉπ΄πΊ πΎπΆπΉπ»π― $2 π©π°π³π³π°πΆπ΅ πΊπ―π°π·π·π¬π« π»πΆ π·π¨π²π°πΊπ»π¨π΅ πΊπ°π΅πͺπ¬ '54," the Eastern Command posted on its X handle. The Army's post came a day after US President Donald Trump threatened India over the purchase of Russian oil.
X Post Shared By The Indian Army's Eastern Command:
The newspaper article is about the developments in the Rajya Sabha in August 1971, months before the 1971 India-Pakistan war. As per the report, the then Defence Production Minister, VC Shukla, told the Rajya Sabha how the NATO powers and the Soviet Union had been approached over the supply of weapons to Pakistan months ahead of Islamabad's aggression. It mentioned that France and the Soviet Union denied providing weapons to Pakistan; however, the US continued its military support.
The report also mentioned that both the US and China provided weapons to Pakistan as "throwaway prices". These weapons were reportedly used by Islamabad against New Delhi in the war.
Donald Trump's Tariff Threat:
Notably, the US imposed 25 per cent tariffs on India, while for Pakistan, it slashed the rates to 19 per cent.
On Monday, Trump again threatened India. The US President said that he will "substantially" raise tariffs paid by India to America, accusing New Delhi of buying massive amounts of Russian oil and selling it for big profits.
"India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits," Trump said in a social media post.
"They don't care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA," he added.
Last week, Trump mounted a sharp attack on India and Russia for their close ties and said that the two countries can take their "dead economies down together", a remark which prompted New Delhi to say that India is the world's fastest-growing major economy.
The White House announced last week that India will face tariffs of 25 per cent after Trump issued an executive order listing the various duties that Washington will impose on exports from countries around the world.
India's Response:
India on Monday issued a firm six-point statement in response to Trumpβs threat to raise tariffs. In its statement, India asserted that it has been unfairly targeted by both the United States and the European Union for continuing to import oil from Russia.
