It was 8pm on December 3, 1971. Accompanied by Pakistan's Additional Foreign Secretary Momtaz A Alvie, US Ambassador to Pakistan Joseph S Farland arrived at the residence of President General AM Yahya Khan after being requested by the Foreign Ministry. He met with Gen Yahya 10 minutes thereafter when Foreign Secretary Sultan Khan and Chief of Staff Gen Abdul Hamid Khan were in attendance.
Gen Yahya started complaining, that a series of Indian Army incursions supported by air cover had occurred at a number of points as far north as Kashmir and as far south as Rahim Yar Kham around 3pm.
He said further that, as a result of this activity, four Pakistan Air Force strikes had taken place upon airfields in the general area north and south of Lahore. He indicated that he was hopeful that the Pak planes had returned safely but as yet he had not had a complete report from Air Marshal Rahim Khan, according to a telegram sent to Washington by Farland.
“Furthermore, he asked me to convey to President Nixon his personal message to the effect that his restraint had been exercised to the utmost, and that the action which his government had taken today to interdict the military aggression of GOI was among the most difficult decisions that he had ever made,” the envoy said.
Gen Yahya then began to spell out in precise detail the areas in which Indian incursions had transpired. Farland then sought a copy setting forth these specific areas for the purpose of absolute clarity.
Farland received the Foreign Ministry report by the end of the day. It described simultaneous attacks by the Indian Army between 3:30pm and 4pm at Sialkot, Chumb, in an area between the Jessar bridge and Lahore, and on the Rajasthan front opposite Rahim Yar Kham.
Pakistan responded, according to the report, with air strikes at Srinagar, Avantipura, Pathankot, and Amritsar, said Farland. It was known as “Operation Chengiz Khan”.
In Washington, the question of responsibility for the initiation of warfare along the front between India and West Pakistan bore on policy considerations. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) weighed the evidence on December 4 and concluded that it was not possible to determine with certainty which side had initiated hostilities.
In a speech to the nation on December 3, 1971, Indian Prime Minister Gandhi charged that Pakistan had launched a full-scale attack against India earlier in the day, shortly after 5:30pm. She said that Pakistan's Air Force had 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, Gandhi said, had no option but to adopt a war footing, according to a situation report by the Department of State's India-Pakistan Working Group.
