“I suspected [Richard Nixon] was very pro-Pakistan. Or rather I knew that the Americans had always been in favor of Pakistan - not so much because they were in favor of Pakistan, but because they were against India.” IndiaFavorsPakistan Author:Indira Gandhi
“I had recently had the impression they were changing - not so much by becoming less pro-Pakistan as by becoming less anti-India. I was wrong. My visit to [Richard] Nixon did anything but avert the war.” WarBecomingIndiaImpressionPakistanAvert Author:Indira Gandhi
“Do you know why I won the last elections? It was because the people liked me, yes, because I had worked, yes, but also because the opposition had behaved badly toward me. And do you know why I won this war? Because my army was able to do it, yes, but also because the Americans were on the side of Pakistan.” PeopleKnowsWarAbleLastsSidesArmyElectionOppositionDo You KnowPakistan Author:Indira Gandhi
“America always thought it was helping Pakistan. But if it hadn't helped Pakistan, Pakistan would have been a stronger country.” IfsHas BeensCountryHelpingAmericaStrongerPakistan Author:Indira Gandhi
“You don't help a country by supporting a military regime that denies any sign of democracy, and what defeated Pakistan was its military regime.” CountryHelpingDemocracyMilitaryDenyRegimesDefeatedPakistan Author:Indira Gandhi
“India had barely become independent, in 1947, when Pakistan invaded Kashmir, which at the time was ruled by a maharajah. The maharajah fled, and the people of Kashmir, led by Sheikh Abdullah, asked for Indian help. Lord [Louis] Mountbatten, who was still governor general, replied that he wouldn't be able to supply aid to Kashmir unless Pakistan declared war, and he didn't seem bothered by the fact that the Pakistanis were slaughtering the population.” PeopleStillsWarFactsHelpingSeemsAbleLordIndiaIndependentPopulationAidsIndianGovernorsPakistanBotheredKashmir Author:Indira Gandhi
“You found an uncle on one side and a nephew on the other, a cousin here and a cousin there. Besides it's still true today. I'll tell you something else. There was a time when even two ambassadors to Switzerland, the one from India and the one from Pakistan, were two blood brothers. Oh, the Partition imposed on us by the British was so unnatural!” StillsTwoTodayFoundSidesBloodBrotherIndiaBritishUnclesPakistanCousinUnnaturalAmbassadorsSwitzerlandNephewPartitionBlood Brothers Author:Indira Gandhi
“I remember harrowing episodes. People who emigrated, people who didn't want to emigrate...Many Muslims didn't want to leave India to go to live in Pakistan, but the propaganda was that there they'd have greater opportunities and so they left. Many Hindus, on the other hand, didn't want to stay in Pakistan, but they had ties there or property and so they stayed.” PeopleWantHandsRememberOpportunityLeftGreaterIndiaPropertyPropagandaTiesEpisodesPakistan Author:Indira Gandhi
“The Western press has always insisted that India was Pakistan's enemy and vice versa, that the Hindus were against the Muslims and vice versa. They've never said, for instance, that my party has been fighting this attitude ever since we have maintained that religious hostilities are wrong and absurd, that minorities cannot be eliminated from a country, that people of different religions must live together.” PeopleHas BeensSaidDifferentCountryTogetherFightingReligiousPartyAttitudeEnemyIndiaPressesWesternVicesAbsurdInstanceMinoritiesPakistanHostilityVice VersaDifferent Religions Author:Indira Gandhi
“Unfortunately even in India there are people who talk like that. And they're the same ones who say, 'We should never have accepted the existence of Pakistan. Now that it exists, it ought to be destroyed.' But these are only a few madmen who have no following among the masses.” PeopleShouldExistenceOughtMassIndiaFollowingAcceptedDestroyedPakistanMadmen Author:Indira Gandhi
“In India you don't find propaganda against Pakistan. During the war there was a little of it, naturally, but even during the war we were able to control it. In fact the Pakistanis were astonished by this. There were prisoners in the camp hospitals who exclaimed, 'What? You're a Hindu doctor and you want to cure me?'” WantLittlesWarFactsAbleDoctorsIndiaCuresPropagandaHospitalsPrisonerCampsPakistan Author:Indira Gandhi
