7 MEMORANDUM LcCl Ie ' C-i u THE WHITE HOUSE WASUINOTON lLll TOP SECRET SENSITIVE CONTAINS CODEWORD December 14 1971 MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT FROM HENRY A KISSINGER SUBJECT Information Items Cambodia Military The governmen apparently has abandoned its efforts to retake hI m Bas - following the dispersal over the weekend of the fo edominately Khmer Krom battalions that had been occup ng it The commander of all government clearing opera on s est of the capital plans to launch a combined armor nd infa - y drive northward along Route 26 today He aR arently inte to establish blocking positions along this Toad to prevent the movement of any additional enemy forces towa d Phnom Penh Soviet Satellites Target S6uth Asia Analysis of limited data f rom 10 spacecr fts th e So v i e s have had in orbit during the past month indicates a high level of int e lligence collection in the India-Pakistan area The spacecrafts include d three high-resolution photoreconnaissance and seven electronic intelli gence sate llite s Th e data indicates 'a primary photograph ic collection effort Cl8a inst ai rfields in India and Pakistan Other major military targets were ground force headquarters at Peshawar and Rawalpindi naval facili ties and an oil refinery and storage facilities at Karachi Th e Soviets also observed the southern Chinese border to include the subd istrict headquarters at Jihkats e n ea r the Sino-Bhutan bo rd er and the Gilgit Road which crosses the Chinese-Pakistan border throu gh the Khunjerab Pa ss A Sov iet consul in Kabul Afghanistan has revealed that th e Soviet Embassy had received satellite observations indicating that China vClS sending a l arge nUJilLer of 'trucks into Pakistan over the road This is th e first evidence indicating that the Soviets disseminate satellite ntelligence to their diplomatic mlSSlons 'POP SECHET EE l ITI 'E CONTAINS CODE OPD TOP S cCR cT SENf ITIV£ CONTAINS CODE v01W -2- ' Soviet electronic intelligence satellites showed interest in radar activity along the East and West Pakistani borders with India and in naval electronics ln the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean India-Pakistan Situation The battle for Dacca apparently has begun The main India force which is approaching from the northeast reportedly has reached the last river crossing some six miles from the city and the Pakistanis are putting up a fierce fight at that point Meanwhile at least three other Indian columns are approaching the city from other directions There is no reported change in the military situation along the western front The Paks however may be building up for a new offensive in southern Kashmir CIA has a report on an Indian cabinet session on December 10 Mrs Gandhi is reported to have said that acceptance of the UN ceaserire resolu lon tter the liberation of Bangla Desh might make it possible to avoid further complications with the U S as well as to rule out the possibility of Chinese intervention She is said to have advocated doing so after the Awami League regime is installed in Dacca At one point Mrs Gandhi is said to have reported that the Soviets are of the view that India should accept a ceasefire as soon as Bangla Desh is liberated Defense- Hinister Jagj ivan Rarn and certain military leaders however were opposed to accepting a UN resolution until India had captur e u certain areas of Pak-held Kashmir an'd destroyed the- war mechanis n of Pakistan Mrs Gandhi also said during her cabinet meeting that the Soviets are concerned about the possibility of Chinese intervention · She went on to imply that if this happened the Soviets would counter the move militarily in Sinkiang and prov ide India vJi th some un spec if ied air support It was not clear from the report however' whether she was simply guessing what the Soviets would be likely to do or whether she actually had Sovie c assur'2 nces Th e Soviets in the past have promised support to India vis-a-vis China but have been vague in setting forth precisely what they would do 'fOP SECrU3 S1 nSITIVE -'fOP SECRET SENSITIVE CONTAINS CODEWORD -3- According to press reports First Deputy Foreign Minister Kuznetsov is due to leave Delhi today and Indian emissary D P Dhar is expected to return from Moscow to Delhi The Associated Press reports that an Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman yesterday reported the detection of Chinese troop movements lIin certain areas 1I There was no further detail The debate in the UN Security Counc'il on our resolution was put off until yesterday evening because of the debate over extending the UN force on Cyprus It resumed about 5 30 pm EST with another discussion of whether to hear a BangIa Desh representative The President of the Council ruled against that proposal The Soviet Union vetoed the U S resolution 'The vote was 11 for same as last week 2 against USSR Poland 2 abstaining France UK The representatives of Italy and Japan then introducted a resolution calling for a cease fire as a first step for immediate steps aimed at aChieving a compromise political settleJ 1 eT' t and for appointing 'iI i th the consent of India and Pakistan a committee of three membe r's of the Council to help work to these ends Consultations on this resolution will resume in the morning from 10 00 am EST on to be followed by a formal meeting tentatively set for 3 00 pm 'FOP SECHC'F Sr l S rrIVE COUTf 1NS COD LI J D H l' 011· IS 1M P DF 3