Office of the Historian

299. Backchannel Message From the Ambassador to Pakistan (Farland) to the Presidentʼs Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)1

Islamabad, December 14, 1971, 1055Z.

1092. When I returned home from seeing Yahya this noon, he telephoned to say that while his instructions to Bhutto remained valid, in the event India insisted on pursuing the war. “I will have to have twenty B–57s immediately.” I told him I would pass this message along, without assurances. Warm regards.

  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 573, Indo-Pak War, South Asia, 12/14/71–12/16/71. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusive; Eyes Only.↩