ABSTRACT
The Cold War imbroglio and interest of superpowers in South Asia are analysed in this chapter. The role of China, Islamic countries, and other neighbours and their influence during the 1971 war are discussed. The Nixon administration shifted America’s policy of neutrality by leaning towards Pakistan. Nixon wanted a rapprochement with China and Pakistan played the role of a conduit. The US never condemned the genocide and mass rape and brutality of Pakistan’s army on the Bengalis. Before the culmination of the war, the US resorted to gunboat diplomacy by dispatching a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, to the Bay of Bengal. The Indo-USSR Friendship Treaty was a clever move by India, which essentially became part of her grand strategy.
