In December 1971, forty years ago, as Indian forces encircled Dacca for the kill, the BBC reported that the US Seventh Fleet had entered the Indian Ocean. A demoralised Nation hoped against hope. Could it just be possible that President Nixon was intervening to save Pakistan from impending disaster? Declassified documents released by the US Government clear the mystery: The Fleet was moving — not to help the beleaguered Pakistan Eastern Command — it was in readiness to aid its former foe, the People’s Republic of China, the USA’s new ‘best’ friend.