NEW DELHI, Dec. 13—Indian forces today continued their three‐pronged advance on Dacca, the capital of East Pakistan, and an Indian spokesman declared that “within 24 to 48 hours we will be in a very strong position around Dacca.”

It was unclear exactly how close the advancing Indian columns had come to the beleaguered city during a day in which they were said to have encountered “stiff resistance.”

But tonight, Gen. S. F. H. J. Manekshaw, the Indian Army Chief of Staff, made a third appeal to the Pakistani commander, Maj. Gen. Firman Ali, urging him to surrender because “your garrisons are now within the range of my artillery.” That could place the nearest Indian column, advancing from Narsingdi, northeast of Dacca, within 16 miles of the city, since the most powerful Indian artillery has a range up to 16.5 miles.

Clashes In Northern Kashmir The western front was reported largely quiet today, with the only significant action reported in northern Kashmir, where the Indians said they had taken two more mountain posts near Kargil.

There were these other developments today:

¶A Soviet delegation headed by Vasily V. Kuznetsov, First Deputy Foreign Minister, concluded its discussions here with Indian leaders, including Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. A Government spokesman said the two days of talks had helped clear up certain “shortcomings” in understanding between the two countries, but he would not elaborate further.

¶A Government official denied a rumor reported in several Indian papers today that President Nixon had sent a letter to Prime Minister Gandhi threatening United States intervention unless India withdrew her troops from East Pakistan. The official said that Mrs. Gandhi had received no communications of any sort from President Nixon since the end of November.

¶An official spokesman said that the Indian Government had no news of the reported movement of the nuclear‐powered United States aircraft carrier Enterprise from her station off Vietnam into the Bay of Bengal. He said that if the Enterprise was in fact moving into Indian waters, she must be part of some “psychological pressures.”

¶Finance Minister Y. B. Chavan announced in a speech to the Lok Sabha, the Indian Parliament, a special emergency tax program to raise $188‐million in extra revenue to meet the expenses of the war. While assuring the legislators that the nation was in no financial danger because of the war or cutbacks in United States aid, he announced a 2.5 per cent rise in customs duties and a similar 2.5 per cent surcharge in the tax on business income. The current Indian budget totals $4.5‐billion.

Fought in 1962

For the first time in the 11‐day‐old war, the possibility of some sort of Chinese intervention on the side of Pakistan was raised by a Foreign Ministry spokesman, who said that the Indian Government was “aware of certain moves” being made by the Chinese.

Under sharp questioning, he refused to elaborate on his statement. But authoritative sources said later that Indian intelligence agencies have received reports of Chinese troop movements of unknown size at two points on the long, mountainous Chinese Indian frontier.

The Indians fought a brief but disastrous war with China along the northern border in 1962, and the Chinese began making troop movements there just before the end of the Indian‐Pakistani war of 1965. These movements are believed to have contributed to India's decision to accept a cease‐fire agreement at that time.

Reporting on the war in East Pakistan, the military briefer for the Indian Eastern Command in Calcutta said tonight that the Indian thrust from Narsingdi, 22 miles northeast of Dacca, had made a “considerable advance” during heavy fighting today.

“Our columns are advancing well despite stiff opposition,” he said. But he would not give figures on how close the three advances had come to the capital.

Indian troops have been moving on Dacca from a bridgehead across the Meghna River at Narsingdi to the northeast, from Mymensingh to the north, and from a road to the northwest. With the help today of the Mukti Bahini, or Bengal guerrilla force, the Indians reported capturing the important district town of Tangail, on this road 56 miles northwest of Dacca.

But the area around Dacca is laced with numerous broad rivers, some as wide as 300 to 400 yards, making offensive actions difficult. Moreover, most Pakistani troops have been fighting fiercely and then pulling back into a tight defensive perimeter around the capital.

Only 5,000 of the 80,000 troops Pakistan is believed to have had in the east have surrendered so far. Some of these soldiers have been isolated by the Indians in remote garrisons, as at Chittagong and Cox's Bazar in the southeast and Khulna in the southwest, but many others have converged on Dacca itself.

In his surrender appeal, broadcast on the radio tonight, General Manekshaw said to General Firman Ali: “Further resistance is senseless and will mean the death of many poor soldiers under your command quite unnecessarily.”

Heavy Battle Toll Feared

General Manekshaw's repeated appeals to the Pakistani commander—he also made an earlier one to the Pakistani garrison at Jessore, which was captured last week—indicate to many observers here that the Indians would like to avoid a final pitched battle for Dacca. Such a battle would clearly result in severe bloodshed and possibly the destruction of the city.

The Indians' capture of the mountain posts at Kargil in northern Kashmir brought the total number of posts they say hey have captured there to 22. A military spokesman denied that India had any territorial goals in the area and said India was only trying to defend her lines of communication.

After a week of heavy fighting at Chhamb in southern Kashmir, that front was quiet today. The Indians, however, reported that they had made some advances in the Samba-Pathankot area just south of Chhamb, destroying seven Pakistani tanks and capturing one.

In air action, India said, Pakistani jets raided Jammu in southern Kashmir, bombing a turpentine factory, while Indian Hunter jets bombed a Pakistani radar station at Badin, southeast of Karachi, and shot down two Pakistani Sabre jets.