From 50 Years Ago: Bangla Desh: Escalation with Purpose

Bangla Desh: Escalation with Purpose 

Apprehensions that the end of the monsoon would be marked by a sharp build up of tension between India and Pakistan have come all too true, unfortunately. Pakistan has been trying from the beginning to conceal the true character of the freedom struggle in East Bengal by making it appear as an India-Pakistan affair. In the last few weeks India too has begun to give wide publicity to its own defence preparations. And to show that the Indo-Soviet treaty is no paper tiger we have promptly invoked article IX of the treaty which provides for mutual consultations to ‘remove’ any threat of attack facing either of the signatories. This brought the Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister to Delhi—with what results it is not immediately clear.