Chapter 1393 – Indira’s Situation

At Moscow International Airport, Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko received his guest from New Delhi, knowing full well what the Indians had come to do; Pakistan was essentially in the midst of a civil war.

As Pakistan’s longtime enemies, the Indians naturally saw in it an opportunity to intervene, and naturally came to Moscow to get what they could.

“Minister Singh, welcome to Moscow.” Gromyko greeted with a smile, expressing ample courtesy to India, and indeed the Soviet Union took the visit extremely seriously.

“Minister Gromyko!” Singh responded with an equally enthusiastic retort; for a long time India had adopted a policy of neutrality in favor of the Soviet Union between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

That was because the United States was firmly in favor of Pakistan, and in fact, as Foreign Minister, he did not see anything wrong with India’s policy, but was merely responding reciprocally to the U.S. bias in favor of Pakistan.

But faced with the opportunity of civil unrest in Pakistan, India had to seize this one chance, once missed in looking for it, may never wait for it. Therefore, India on the one hand, the Pakistani army to suppress the Bengalis of the matter as much as possible to spread out, from the public opinion of Pakistan to attack, on the other hand, the beginning of military preparations, wait until the appropriate time to intervene in Pakistan’s civil strife.

The opening of the Bengali independence movement, which made the then Pakistani military furious, and ordered the government forces to go out to quell the rebellion.

The government forces in West Pakistan, which were already discriminating against the Bengalis, witnessed many tragedies in the course of the crackdown, where as soon as a single rebel appeared in a village, that entire village would be razed to the ground.

Singh expressed the threat that Pakistan has long posed to India’s defense and security before speaking, “Bengalis have the right to seek freedom, and we have the latest news that Bengalis, in the face of repression by the Pakistani government, have gone from calling for autonomy to fighting for independence.”

“It is certainly an opportunity for India to have its old rival’s hands full.” Gromyko was noncommittal; the present was not the time for the Soviet Union to take a position lightly, and it was up to India to see what it could offer.

In fact, India faces not many choices, Britain is the former sovereign state, India certainly does not want Britain to return to South Asia.

The United States is Pakistan’s backer, a major neighbor of India has been an enemy since 62 years, who can India turn to? There was really no choice but the USSR, it couldn’t go to the French, it’s not like it was an African problem.

The Soviet Union also had demands, although India adopted a neutral pro-Soviet policy internationally, but in Moscow’s view, this is still not enough. Instead, it is unconditionally on India’s side.

With the current Indo-Pakistani situation, of course, India has the advantage, but at the international level, although India has tried its best to publicize the atrocities of Pakistani repression, but this kind of thing is useless, the United States will not change its policy because of some of the so-called evidence, look at the Agent Orange incident made such a big fuss, many countries are aware of the dangers of U.S. chemicals, the United States does not act as if nothing has happened.

In fact India is ready to implement a decisive step by taking in Bengali forces to be trained on Indian soil to provide help against Pakistani government forces.

Strictly speaking the terrain of East Pakistan is not favorable for guerrilla warfare, it is the Ganges delta and the whole place is an alluvial plain, also cut by a network of water.

But there is one very favorable condition for guerrilla warfare, and that is that the population density is among the highest in the world, East Pakistan is the region in South Asia that most closely meets the definition of a nation-state, and there is no doubt that the Pakistani government’s crackdown could take down a Bengali with its eyes closed, and that the crackdown’s moves are perpetual motion machines that create a refugee flow in East Pakistan, where the population density is so high.

The more densely populated the country, the more fear of displaced persons, once a place of overpopulation overwhelmed the local tolerance limit, will inevitably cause a chain reaction, which is the real dominoes.

There is no doubt that East Pakistan is now perfectly in line with the definition of the area is small and densely populated, the result of the emergence of refugees is to eat one place after another, and ultimately the formation of a tsunami of refugees.

The refugee tsunami in East Pakistan is now in the process of brewing, and once it reaches a critical point, it will suddenly collapse and spread in all directions, the first to bear the brunt of which will be India, which is bordered on three sides. If there is a second victim, it is Myanmar, which borders the Rakhine region.

In fact, Myanmar reacted faster than India, and after realizing that East Pakistan was in turmoil, it almost immediately thought of the refugee problem and mobilized its troops to the border to be on alert.

This is also a long time in the making, next to British India is not too far back in the memory, and it is difficult to drive out the Rohingya now, Myanmar certainly do not want to be hit by refugees again.

In the absolute advantage of the Pakistani army, naturally, will not be concerned about their behavior will not cause a chain reaction, for the army, chasing guerrillas has been the safest combat in the war.

Wheeled armored vehicles chasing guerrillas are soaring forward, with the momentum of the dragon, vehicle-mounted machine guns and machine guns continue to harvest the lives of the routed soldiers who are fleeing along the highway.

The members of the convoy had already killed their eyes, exposing all the tyranny and cruelty hidden in their hearts, they excitedly watched one by one the enemy died miserably under their own attack, their faces reddened due to over-excited emotions, their expressions twisted and hideous.

The routed soldiers found that they could not escape, but also wanted to gather together to rely on the roadbed beside the highway to resist, but then they were crushed by the heavy fire of the armored vehicles, most of them were killed, the remaining handful of survivors left the highway in a hurry and fled toward the side of the hillside covered with artemisia.

The guerrillas in the other direction, feeling that they had attacked the government troops undetected, were discovered before they could act, and were already in disarray under the shelling; some wanted to take cover, some wanted to continue the charge, and others felt that the situation was bad and wanted to retreat, and the several detachments huddled together in a disorderly manner, making excellent targets for the artillery and machine gunners.

The battle was undoubtedly a good one, with the pursuing government troops winning the battle, but the hateful glances in the eyes of the survivors who took refuge nearby after the group withdrew showed that the purpose of the crackdown had not been achieved, and that the temporary victory had only added fuel to the fire.

In New Delhi, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, dressed in a sari, waited patiently for the arrival of the Chief of Army Staff, Sam Manekshaw, a man of unassuming appearance, who, to be anything special, may be of a Zoroastrian faith not uncommon in India.

Sam Manekshaw’s military career was not a smooth one, for example, he had a very poor relationship with Lieutenant General Kaur in the Sixty-Two Years’ War.

It was reported that he openly made snide jibes at Cowell, as well as saying some very disrespectful things about Defense Secretary Menon. After Cowell brought the matter to the attention of Prime Minister Nehru, a commission of inquiry was set up to hear the allegations against Manekshaw. The charges held that he had criticized his superiors and leading civilian officials in an unflattering manner, that is to say, disloyal.

The ensuing fiasco of the war made Menon’s faction a target, and he was reinstated as the Chief of Staff of the Indian Army for this term.

When confronted with the Prime Minister’s summons, he understood well what the purpose was, and sure enough, Indira Gandhi spoke urgently, “Sam, you know my purpose; many voices think that the war should be fought at once and at once.”

“Prime Minister, I don’t want to mention the country’s scars, but a hasty operation like the one in ’62 must not happen during my tenure.” Sam Manekshaw spoke without changing his face, “Honorable Prime Minister, what is the purpose of the war? Have the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Finance figured this out yet? What about you Prime Minister, what kind of result do you want.”

“Of course it is so that Pakisti will not be a threat to India in future.” Indira Gandhi spoke calmly, she didn’t berate the Chief of General Staff for mentioning India’s defeat in ’62, even if she was really angry, “Countless people from the central government to the states are now suggesting to me every day that there should be an immediate war against Pakistan, and you should be aware of this pressure. For this pressure to be released, the result of a majorly victorious war is necessary.”

“As Chief of the General Staff of the Indian Army, can you guarantee to bring about the result that I would like to see, and if you cannot, then the question of whether to start the war early or late is not important at all.”

“No, the question is important, even if we start preparations now, we will not be able to shield ourselves from all interferences, in fact we should have launched our military operations during the season when the Himalayas are closed with heavy snowfalls and not now, we start our military operations now and if we encounter obstacles, Pakistan may be supported. The Chinese even if they cross over. There is also no way to ensure the logistics, and once there is a logistical problem, the army will also be turned into a meal on our plate. And if we mobilize the army now to prepare for an attack, we’ll need at least two months, while our neighbors to the north get exactly six months to intervene.”

“So it will be at least the fall before we can begin military operations?” Indira Gandhi was a little disappointed, but recognized that the other man had a point, “It seems that we will have to work a lot harder on our diplomacy.”

“Honorable Prime Minister, if the enemy is the Pakistani army, I am confident of a victorious outcome. As for us, we can also use these few months to prepare properly and lead a victorious army, not a ragtag bunch of hasty men. Hasty action only serves to humiliate ourselves.”

Doing so Bengal’s guerrillas may be tough for some time to come, but Sam Manekshaw believes that it will all be worth it if the final victory is achieved.

Indira Gandhi faced the same problem that her father had faced in 1962, that is, all sides were pressing her to come up with an immediate decision, and the wave of nationalism had once pushed her father into a dangerous situation.