Even before the ink can dry on the new defence agreement Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and United States Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld have signed, declassified documents reveal that former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger had called Indians 'bastards' and that Washington had pushed China to attack India during the 1971 war with Pakistan.
It is well known that former US president Richard Nixon and Kissinger had a poor opinion of Indians and of then prime minister Indira Gandhi in particular, but these documents show just how deep the antipathy ran.
Kissinger even referred to Indira as 'a bitch' shortly after her visit to the US, just ahead of the 1971 Indo-Pak crisis.
Should India ingore these revelations, or factor them into the intense attempts to nurture a strategic partnership with the US? What stand should India adopt?
Tell us what you think.
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