Indian Army’s ‘This Day That Year’ Post on US Arms Of Pakistan Fuels Fire Amid Trump’s Tirade
Amid a deepening diplomatic row with Washington over trade and India’s relationship with Russia, the Indian Army on Tuesday shared a pointed throwback post, highlighting decades of US military assistance to Pakistan.
The Eastern Command of the Indian Army posted an image of a newspaper article from August 5, 1971, on X, with a caption that read, “This Day That Year” Build Up of War – 05 Aug 1971″. The post, using the hashtag #KnowFacts, drew attention to the headline of the archival report: “US ARMS WORTH $2 BILLION SHIPPED TO PAKISTAN SINCE ’54“.
This historical reference to American military support for Islamabad comes just months before the 1971 war that led to the liberation of Bangladesh.
The social media post lands at a particularly tense moment in India-US relations. It follows US President Donald Trump’s recent threat to “substantially” increase tariffs on Indian exports, penalizing New Delhi for its continued purchase of Russian crude oil. In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated, “India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits.
They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine.” This prompted a sharp rebuttal from India’s Ministry of External Affairs, which described the proposed tariffs as “unjustified and unreasonable” and defended its oil imports from Moscow as a “necessity compelled by global market conditions.” The MEA also pointed out the West’s own dealings with Russia, noting that the US continues to import uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry.
The Army’s post is also being viewed in the context of what appears to be a renewed bonhomie between the Trump administration and Islamabad. The White House recently invited Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, for a meeting, and Pakistan reciprocated by awarding one of its highest state honors, the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military), to US CENTCOM chief General Michael Kurilla.
This warming of ties, coupled with a new US-Pakistan trade deal, has not gone unnoticed in New Delhi, making the Indian Army’s historical reminder a subtle but powerful statement on long-standing geopolitical alignments.
