When US armed Pakistan: Indian Army’s throwback post after Trump’s 'India funding Russia’s war' charge

At a time when US President Donald Trump has accused India of funding the Russian war on Ukraine , the Indian Army has reminded the world of the US role against India in the India-Pakistan War of 1971.

In a post on X, the Eastern Command of the Indian Army on Tuesday shared newspaper clippings from August 5, 1971, with reports of US military assistance to Pakistan at the time.

In 1971, India and Pakistan fought a 13-day war in which India scored a decisive victory that led to the creation of the nation of Bangladesh that had until then been a part of Pakistan called East Pakistan. While the United States supported Pakistan ahead of the war —as news clippings shared by the Army show— it also supported Pakistan during the war.

#IndianArmy#EasternCommand#VijayVarsh #LiberationOfBangladesh #MediaHighlights

"This Day That Year" Build Up of War - 05 Aug 1971 #KnowFacts.

"𝑼.𝑺 𝑨𝑹𝑴𝑺 𝑾𝑶𝑹𝑻𝑯 $2 𝑩𝑰𝑳𝑳𝑰𝑶𝑵 𝑺𝑯𝑰𝑷𝑷𝑬𝑫 𝑻𝑶 𝑷𝑨𝑲𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑵 𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑪𝑬 '54"@adgpi@SpokespersonMoD… pic.twitter.com/wO9jiLlLQf

— EasternCommand_IA (@easterncomd) August 5, 2025

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After Pakistan attacked India, formally starting the war on December 3, 1971, the United States came to the active military support of Pakistan and dispatched the 7th Fleet of the US Navy towards Indian shores to pressure India and break the blockade of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), led by the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.

US support to Pakistan haunts India-US ties again

In the Cold War, India and Pakistan were on the opposite camps.

While Pakistan was aligned with the West led by the United States, India was aligned with the Soviet Union even though the country was formally non-aligned.

In the India-Pakistan War of 1971, the United States and allies like the Shah of Iran helped Pakistan whereas the Soviet Union helped India.

The US military intervention against India in 1971 tainted the India-US ties for decades and turned the public opinion in India against the United States for generations.

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Once India detected the US military movement, India reached out to the Soviet Union for help. The Soviet Union dispatched its own warships and submarines that shadowed and encircled US warships, forcing them to halt their mission and preventing any armed confrontation.