Army, with old newspaper clip, takes a dig at US

NEW DELHI: The Indian Army on Tuesday waded into the ongoing war of words between India and the US over tariffs and Russian oil, sharing an old newspaper clip detailing decades of military support from Washington to Pakistan in the run-up to the 1971 war .

The Army's Eastern Command at Kolkata posted on 'X' a newspaper clip from Aug 5, 1971, highlighting the article's headline: "US arms worth $2 billion shipped to Pakistan since 1954". "This day that year build-up of war - Aug 5, 1971. #KnowFacts," the post said.

The newspaper article mentioned the then defence production minister V C Shukla telling RS that both the US and China had supplied Pakistan with arms at "concessional rates or throw-away prices".

The French sold Pakistan arms against hard cash with "no concessions", while USSR had denied supplying weapons to India's western adversary. "Our estimate of the value of US arms shipments to Pakistan since they entered into the arms pact in 1954 was $2 billion," Shukla had said.

Army's dig comes after MEA hit back at US following Trump's threat to India over its purchase of Russian oil. TNN