While the Pakistani military continued genocide and atrocities in the East, forcing millions of Bengalis to flee to India, the archrivals launched an all-out war against each other on December 3, 1971.
The Indian troops crossed the border to assist Freedom Fighters against the Pakistani military and their collaborators in the East. In the West, joint attacks by the Indian Army in the afternoon rattled a number of points as far north as Kashmir and as far south as Rahim Yar Khan.
On the other hand, Pakistan launched air strikes at Srinagar, Avantipura, Pathankot, and Amritsar. It was known as “Operation Chengiz Khan”.
However, it was not possible to determine with certainty which side had initiated hostilities.
The same day, the joint command of the Indian and Bangladesh forces, formed on November 21, started attacking Pakistani army bases in the border areas.
The Indians launched a major attack at Akhaura, near Agartala, and stepped up operations in other areas. These actions were prior to the Pakistani air raids in the West.
In a speech to the nation on December 3, Indian Prime Minister Gandhi charged that Pakistan had launched a full-scale attack against India earlier in the day. She said Pakistan's Air Force struck at six Indian airfields in Kashmir and the Punjab and that Pakistani artillery was shelling Indian positions at several locations along the border between India and West Pakistan.
India had no option but to go on a war footing, Gandhi asserted that her demand for the unconditional release of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of independent Bangladesh, remained unmet.
Then the US Ambassador to Pakistan, Joseph S Farland, met with Pakistani military ruler President General AM Yahya Khan the same day. Yahya said that, as a result of the attacks, four Pakistan Air Force strikes had taken place on airfields in the general area north and south of Lahore.
Yahya said that, with India having precipitated an all-out war, his military forces were in desperate need of US military supplies and earnestly sought US assistance in obtaining the same.
He added that, assuming the Nixon administration found this to be an impossibility, "for God's sake, don't hinder or impede the delivery of equipment from friendly third countries."
Rationale of US military aid
The request for military assistance put the US in a shambles, with senior officials trying to find out how military supplies could be justified.
According to Article I of the Bilateral Agreement signed on March 5, 1959, in case of aggression against Pakistan, the US would "take such appropriate action, including the use of armed forces, as may be mutually agreed upon," in order to assist Pakistan at its request.
On January 26, 1962, a letter from US President John F Kennedy to Pakistan President Field Marshal Ayub Khan said: "As a firm ally, Pakistan is entitled to the re-affirmation you have requested of the prior assurances given by the United States to Pakistan on the subject of aggression against Pakistan. My government certainly stands by these assurances."
On November 5, 1962, Ambassador McConaughy gave President Ayub an aide-mémoire which offered the more explicit assurance that the United States would "come to Pakistan's assistance in the event of aggression from India against Pakistan."
