Kissinger should have apologised for 1971 war role: Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen

Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has expressed strong criticism of Henry Kissinger, the former US secretary of state who died at the age of 100, for his role in the 1971 war. Momen asserted that Kissinger supported the Pakistani military regime during the war and failed to apologise to the people of Bangladesh for his actions.

Kissinger, a key figure in Cold War foreign policy, passed away on Thursday (Nov 30).

"Henry Kissinger has been an iconic diplomat, he played an immense role in the diplomatic world, particularly designing US policy abroad," acknowledged Momen, reflecting on Kissinger's overall legacy.

However, the foreign minister did not shy away from pointing out Kissinger's actions during the 1971 India-Pakistan war that led to the creation of Bangladesh, stating, "But unfortunately, in 1971, he was dead against the people of the then East Pakistan."

Momen highlighted his role in violating "all American laws, international laws to support Pakistani military junta and also supplied weapons to illegally occupying forces of Pakistan".

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The Nixon administration, under which Kissinger served, had taken a strong anti-India stance during the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war and supported Pakistan.

Bangladesh Liberation War saw West Pakistani military actions in East Pakistan leading to over a million deaths and several other millions becoming refugees.  "That is very sad for such a smart man to do such inhumane things; it is not acceptable," Momen emphasised.

Amid the war, the US deployed the warship USS Enterprise in the Bay of Bengal in a bid to support the then West Pakistan, but that did not give any advantage to the Pakistani military establishment.

The foreign minister delved into the motivations behind Kissinger's controversial decisions, pointing out that his pursuit of "ping pong diplomacy" and his desire to shape US relations with China and Pakistan influenced his stance during the 1971 war.

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Momen explained, "In order to satisfy General Yahya [Khan], he did all those mischievous things, so it's very sad."

Kissinger, who was Nixon's NSA, had secretly traveled to Beijing during his visit to Pakistan. That visit led to the 1972 visit of Richard Nixon to China to further improve ties, and by 1979, Washington had established full diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China.

Expressing disappointment in Kissinger's failure to base decisions on facts rather than emotions, Momen added, "When you take a decision, that should be fact-based, not subject to emotions. Unfortunately, people like Kissinger with so much wisdom failed to rise to the occasion."

"We feel that he should have apologised to the people of Bangladesh for what he has done—the genocide, mass killing of the people of then East Pakistan," Momen declared.

"That is sad."