Sensing his defeat on both East and West fronts, Pakistani ruler General AM Yahya Khan chose to revise his proposal for a cease-fire, which stunned his key ally -- the United States.
“Pakistan late yesterday [December 10, 1971] revised the proposal reported here yesterday morning from Dacca for a cease-fire, repatriation of Pakistani troops and a transfer of power to the elected representatives of East Pakistan,” said a memorandum prepared for US President Richard Nixon.
“The revised proposal contains only a call for cease-fire and guaranteed safety of military and civilian personnel; there is no reference to a political settlement or the withdrawal of Pakistani troops,” it read.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was in New York, told US Ambassador to the UN George HW Bush on December 10 that he had arrived to find conflicting instructions and was seeking clarification.
“In an indication of the division of view that must exist within the Pakistani government, he said that yesterday's first proposal had flabbergasted him and that if this remained policy, he would take the first plane home and not be shackled with it,” read the memorandum, prepared by Nixon's Assistant for National Security Affairs Henry Kissinger.
“The Pak Ambassador at the UN observed that the first proposal had been drafted by a field commander under great strain and contained such unprecedented requests as asking the UN to effect a transfer of power."
Pak troops retreat in disorderly fashion
Meanwhile, the Indian troops advancing throughout East Pakistan remained virtually unchecked outside Dhaka as the Pak troops retreated in an increasingly disorderly fashion, Kissinger said in the memorandum.
“Even in Dacca, where many of the survivors seem to be holing up, morale among both officers and enlisted men is reported to be low. From all indications, the Indian forces are consolidating for the final thrust at the capital city if efforts to secure a cease-fire fail,” he added.
On the Western front, the largest tank battles to date were reported in two areas of Kashmir. A staff of Gandhi said that India would launch a major offensive against West Pakistan as soon as the situation in the East was settled, and hoped that all major fighting would be over by the end of the month.