A move by the United Nations to evacuate 300 foreign nationals from war-torn Dhaka, which remained stalled for several weeks, came out successful on December 11, 1971.
The foreigners included more than 100 Americans. “Four British C-130's with UN markings completed the job,” according to a memorandum sent to US President Richard Nixon by his Assistant for National Security Affairs Henry Kissinger.
The move was delayed due to an absence of a ceasefire. At that time, the Mukti Bahini and Indian troops were close to Dhaka, prompting the US to move its Seventh Fleet to the Bay of Bengal, reportedly to evacuate US citizens.
On December 10, an evacuation effort by the UN and Red Cross failed though they had arranged a cease-fire in the evacuation area and a British C-130 from Kolkata was within 30 minutes of landing.
But the Pakistani commander, Gen AAK Niazi, withdrew permission to land because the plane was coming from Indian soil, and he feared the Indians would use it as cover for movements of their own, said Kissinger.
“The UN representative in Dacca has received an urgent message from [Secretary-General] U Thant instructing him to evacuate all UN personnel from Dacca. Thant, earlier in the week, had ordered them to stay on for possible usefulness in arranging a cease-fire.
“Thant said he had reversed position following India's demand that all UN operations cease and notification that, in the case of non-withdrawal, the presence of UN personnel in neutral evacuation zones in Dacca would cause such zones not to be recognized as neutralized by India and Bangla Desh forces.”
Kissinger noted that Thant felt that he had no choice but to withdraw.
Situation in East and West Pakistan
When US Ambassador to Pakistan Joseph S Farland asked for President Gen AM Yahya Khan's views on a cease-fire on December 11, he said that he was prepared to do "anything reasonable under the circumstances”.
In response to Farland's question why Pakistan's first ceasefire proposal had been replaced later in the day by a less comprehensive one omitting political settlement, Gen Yahya looked hard at Foreign Secretary Sultan Khan and said there had been a breakdown of communication and apparently some "general misunderstandings”.
He added that the foreign secretary was rectifying the situation.
According to a press report from Rawalpindi, a Pakistani government spokesman said that major diplomatic moves outside the UN and in keeping with the protection of Pakistan's interests were underway to end the conflict.
Movement of Chinese military
On December 11, there was a clandestine report from Islamabad that Gen Yahya had told his prime minister-designate Nurul Amin that the Chinese ambassador had assured him that the Chinese army would move toward the Northeast Frontier Agency border of India within 72 hours.
The US could not confirm any unusual activity by Chinese forces in Tibet, Kissinger said. President Nixon then wanted to know whether the Chinese move was imminent.
In East Pakistan, Pakistan's forces continued to regroup for the defense of Dhaka, Kissinger said. In contrast to the 30,000 or more Pakistanis that could be mustered there, the Indians have roughly 60,000 men in three divisions moving toward the city, with at least as many more in reserve near East Pakistan's borders.
“The guerrillas are also poised outside the city. In the west, fighting in the Kashmir and Punjab areas continues with little significant movement by either side.”
In the southern sector on the western front, the Indians claimed to be some 30 miles inside Pakistan's Sind Province. “If the Indians press toward Hyderabad, Pakistan might have to divert forces from the north to prevent Karachi from being cut off from the rest of the country,” Kissinger told Nixon.
