Defying a United Nations plea for a ceasefire, Indian
forces appear on the verge of achieving New Delhi's
major objectives in East Pakistan. These are the defeat
of West Pakistani military repression in the disaffected
Bengali province and the creation of conditions that
will facilitate the speedy repatriation of nearly ten
million refugees- Moslem and Hindu-to an independent,
friendly and secular "Bangla Desh."

These would represent large short-term gains for the
Indians, whose fragile internal stability has been
gravely threatened by recent events in East Pakistan.
The dismemberment of Pakistan would all but eliminate
the menace of a militant Moslem neighbor, which would be
reduced to less than half of its original size.

But India will have paid a heavy price for these
achievements, even if the wider war with Pakistan is
speedily ended without further serious loss of Indian
territory in the West.

New Delhi's resort to force without first exhausting all
possibilities for a peaceful resolution of the conflict-
especially the cold rejection of U.N. Secretary General
Thant's reasonable mediation offer-has shocked many of
India's staunchest friends and alienated important
segments of world opinion. India's violation of the
United Nations Charter and defiance of the General
Assembly has sharply diminished India's once proud moral
standing.

India's support for full Bengali independence may have
been made inescapable by the incredibly shortsighted and
brutal policies of the Pakistani Government. But no one-
especially the Indians can ignore the new dangers and
problems that will be posed by the emergence of Bangla
Desh.

The success of secession in East Bengal could touch off
a chain reaction of separatist demands throughout the
subcontinent, in India as well as Pakistan. Desperately
poor and heavily overpopulated-the present population of
75 million is expected to double in twenty years - Bangla
Desh is likely to become a breeding ground for domestic
unrest and a lightning rod for foreign meddling. It
could become a magnet for the Bengalis of India and a
destructive influence on the delicate structure of
Indian unity

To avert further impoverishment, fragmentation and
conflict throughout the subcontinent it is essential
that leaders in Delhi, Dacca and Islamabad thrust aside
present divisions and acrimony and join in a search for
new ties and institutions that will enable them to
attack overriding common problems in dignity and peace.
As the emerging dominant power, India has a special
responsibility to assert the moral leadership for
reconciliation that has been so sadly lacking in the
present conflict.