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9 Nov, 2011, 09.15AM IST, Josy Joseph,TNN
US snooping worsened after 1971 Pakistan war.
NEW DELHI: Having weighed in on the Pakistani side during the 1971 war, the Americans refused to relent on their anti-India stance, aggressively snooping on Indian Navy ships and submarines, declassified government files show. The scale of these hostilities, thus far unknown, could have jeopardized the sensitive security scenario.
Aggressive surveillance sorties from America's newly-acquired Indian Ocean base of Diego Garcia kept getting more and more frequent and hostile through the seventies and the declassified files give instances of US military planes provoking Indian vessels. On November 21, 1975, defence secretary D R Kohli wrote to foreign secretary Kewal Singh: "In the recent past there have been several incidents of snooping/buzzing by US Orions (MR/ASW aircraft) over our naval ships." He listed incidents in 1974-75 that the Navy perceived serious.
The note listed specific instances when US surveillance planes flew very close, trailing Indian Navy vessels. In one incident, "an aircraft orbited at a very low altitude of 200 feet for about 10-15 minutes as the submarines surfaced on completion of sonobuoy trials (sonar system dropped/ejected from aircraft or ships during anti-submarine operations). On being closed by Alize (naval aircraft) the US planes sped away..." The defence secretary notes: "This snooping seems to be serious."
Aircraft carrier INS Vikrant reported on July 15, 1975 that it was shadowed on a "passage from Bombay to Madras". INS Delhi reported at least three incidents of US snooping. In the first instance, a US Orion made "two runs over the ship at 150 feet" and flew off, Kohli said. Similar incidents were reported by INS Mysore, INS Magar and other ships.
The defence secretary wrote: "It is assessed that US Orion aircraft are operating from Diego Garcia" and are "subjecting our naval activities to surveillance, even up to Bombay". In some earlier cases, US planes operating from bases in Thailand had carried out such activities, he said.
Foreign secretary Kewal Singh wrote on November 11, 1975: "If unfortunately, news of such incidents becomes public, it can lead to controversy and difficulties..." On the foreign secretary's note, foreign minister Yashwantrao Chavan wrote: "We must certainly take up the matter with the (US) embassy...This is the first glimpse of their use of Diego Garcia."
T S Teja, joint secretary (Americas), subsequently summoned US deputy chief of mission David Schneider on December 3 and lodged a strong protest.
US snooping worsened after 1971 Pakistan war - The Economic Times
US snooping worsened after 1971 Pakistan war.
NEW DELHI: Having weighed in on the Pakistani side during the 1971 war, the Americans refused to relent on their anti-India stance, aggressively snooping on Indian Navy ships and submarines, declassified government files show. The scale of these hostilities, thus far unknown, could have jeopardized the sensitive security scenario.
Aggressive surveillance sorties from America's newly-acquired Indian Ocean base of Diego Garcia kept getting more and more frequent and hostile through the seventies and the declassified files give instances of US military planes provoking Indian vessels. On November 21, 1975, defence secretary D R Kohli wrote to foreign secretary Kewal Singh: "In the recent past there have been several incidents of snooping/buzzing by US Orions (MR/ASW aircraft) over our naval ships." He listed incidents in 1974-75 that the Navy perceived serious.
The note listed specific instances when US surveillance planes flew very close, trailing Indian Navy vessels. In one incident, "an aircraft orbited at a very low altitude of 200 feet for about 10-15 minutes as the submarines surfaced on completion of sonobuoy trials (sonar system dropped/ejected from aircraft or ships during anti-submarine operations). On being closed by Alize (naval aircraft) the US planes sped away..." The defence secretary notes: "This snooping seems to be serious."
Aircraft carrier INS Vikrant reported on July 15, 1975 that it was shadowed on a "passage from Bombay to Madras". INS Delhi reported at least three incidents of US snooping. In the first instance, a US Orion made "two runs over the ship at 150 feet" and flew off, Kohli said. Similar incidents were reported by INS Mysore, INS Magar and other ships.
The defence secretary wrote: "It is assessed that US Orion aircraft are operating from Diego Garcia" and are "subjecting our naval activities to surveillance, even up to Bombay". In some earlier cases, US planes operating from bases in Thailand had carried out such activities, he said.
Foreign secretary Kewal Singh wrote on November 11, 1975: "If unfortunately, news of such incidents becomes public, it can lead to controversy and difficulties..." On the foreign secretary's note, foreign minister Yashwantrao Chavan wrote: "We must certainly take up the matter with the (US) embassy...This is the first glimpse of their use of Diego Garcia."
T S Teja, joint secretary (Americas), subsequently summoned US deputy chief of mission David Schneider on December 3 and lodged a strong protest.
US snooping worsened after 1971 Pakistan war - The Economic Times
