7 MEMORANDUM LcCl Ie ' Ci 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 bat talions that had been occup ng it The commander of all government clearing opera ons 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 towa d additional enemy forces Phnom Penh Soviet Satellites Target S6uth Asia Analysis of limited spacecr fts data from 10 the Sovie s have had in orbit during the past month indicates a high level of intelligence collec tion in the IndiaPakistan area The spacecrafts included three highresolution photoreconnaissance and seven electronic intelligence satellites The data indicates'a primary photographic collection effort Cl8ainst airfields in India and Pakistan Other major military targets were ground force headquarters at Peshawar and Rawal pindi naval facili ties and an oil refinery and storage facilities at Karachi The Soviets also observed the southern Chinese border to include the subdistrict headquarters at Jihkatse near the SinoBhutan border and the Gilgit Road which crosses the ChinesePakistan border through the Khun jerab Pass A Soviet consul in Kabul Afghanistan has revealed that the Soviet Embassy had received satellite observations indicating that China vClS sending a large nUJilLer of 'trucks into Pakistan over the road This is the 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 IndiaPakistan 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 direc tions 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 Mrs Gandhi is reported to have said that acceptance of the resolu lon UN ceaserire 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 DefenseHinister Jagj ivan Rarn and certain military leaders however were opposed to accepting a UN resolution until India had captureu certain areas of Pakheld Kashmir an'd destroyed the war mechanis n of Pakis tan Mrs Gandhi also said during her cabinet meeting that the Soviets are concerned about the possibility of Chinese inter vention ∙ She went on to imply that if this happened the Soviets would counter the move militarily in Sinkiang and vJi th some prov ide India 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 The Soviets in the past have promised support to India visavis China but have been vague in setting forth precisely what they would do 'fOP SECrU3 S1 nSITIVE 10 '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 The Associated Press reports that an Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman yesterday reported the detection of Chinese troop 1I movements lIin certain areas There was to Delhi 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 USSR Poland 2 against 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 'iIi th the consent of India and settleJ 1 eT' t and for appointing Pakistan a committee of three member'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 CODLI J D Hl' 011· IS 1M P DF 3