[ravager]

You are totally wrong. Indira Gandhi first came to power in 1966. By then, US-Pakistan military alliance was well established. Pakistan was part of SEATO and CENTO in 1954-55. US supported Pakistan in the 1965 Indo-Pak war, one year before Indira Gandhi came to power. And Indira Gandhi didnt appointed herself as leader of the “Third World”. India was the founder member of NAM and being the largest democracy India was the most influential among the post colonization, newly independent third world countries.

You need to do a little more research before piling it all on Indira Gandhi. US never considered India to be best choice back then. Pakistan-China seemed much better choice .

[James C. Bennett]

The US (Nixon) had tried to provoke the Chinese into attacking India in 1971, too, while the Bangladeshi people (especially the non-Muslims there) were being mowed down and slaughtered whole-scale by the Pakistani military (with US equipment and support - they even coaxed their Middle East friends to supply weaponry to Pakistan) under Operation Searchlight. The Russians neutralised both Chinese AND American threats (USS Enterprise was moved into the Bay of Bengal, to be quickly trailed by a Russian nuke sub) and only a total dimwit unaware of history would call india’s alliance with them a folly for India:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Searchlight

[Tallguy]

I never got the impression that US diplomacy in SW Asia was ever well thought-out. Besides everything was seen through the prism of the Cold War struggle with the Soviets. It was as if everything was a zero-sum game.