Indian Army Revives 1971 Memory Amid US Tariff Row

The Indian Army’s Eastern Command has posted a throwback to August 5, 1971, highlighting decades of US military support to Pakistan — a move widely seen as a pointed reminder amid fresh tensions between New Delhi and Washington.

The post featured a newspaper clipping from the run-up to the 1971 India-Pakistan war, noting that the US had shipped $2 billion worth of arms to Pakistan since 1954. At the time, then Defence Production Minister VC Shukla told Parliament that while the Soviet Union and France denied supplying arms to Pakistan, the US and China sold weapons to Islamabad at “throwaway prices.”

The Army’s post came a day after former US President Donald Trump threatened to sharply raise tariffs on Indian goods over Russian oil purchases. Trump accused India of making “big profits” by reselling Russian oil, warning that tariffs could exceed the already hiked 25% rate.

The Indian government hit back, noting that the US itself encouraged such imports after the Ukraine war began and continues trading with Russia. The foreign ministry accused critics of hypocrisy, pointing out that the EU’s 2024 trade with Russia far exceeded India’s, covering LNG, fertilisers, metals, and machinery.

The tariff dispute comes alongside Trump’s latest executive order imposing higher duties on multiple nations — but lowering Pakistan’s rate from 29% to 19%.