Relations between India and the United States came to an all-time low during the early 1970s . Despite reports of atrocities in East Pakistan , and being told , most notably in the '' Blood telegram '' , of genocidal activities being perpetrated by Pakistani forces , US . Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and US President Richard Nixon did nothing to discourage then Pakistani President Yahya Khan and the Pakistan Army . Kissinger was particularly concerned about Soviet expansion into South Asia as a result of a treaty of friendship that had recently been signed between India and the Soviet Union , and sought to demonstrate to the People 's Republic of China the value of a tacit alliance with the United States . During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 , Indian Armed Forces , along with the Mukti Bahini , succeeded in liberating East Pakistan which soon declared independence . Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of West Pakistan would mean total Soviet domination of the region , and that it would seriously undermine the global position of the United States and the regional position of America 's new tacit ally , China . To demonstrate to China the '' bona fides '' of the United States as an ally , and in direct violation of the Congress-imposed sanctions on Pakistan , Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan , routing them through Jordan and Iran , while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan
atrocities in East Pakistan
1971 Bangladesh genocide
Foreign relations of India