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Why some Sikhs support Khalistan movement?Short Answer - Sikhs backed by ISI and other anti-India elements do care and want to turn Sikhs against India by fueling Khalistan movement.The Khalistanis have been successfully used in the past by ISI and CIA against Indira Ghandi . The same forces trying very hard to keep it alive as potential leverage that can used in future against Narendra Modi or any strong government in Center.For more Details read long answer .Long AnswerIn the first few years after India’s independence, the Sikh migrants from Punjab constituted the largest single group of Indian origin in the Indian diaspora in the UK, the US and Canada. Some of them had migrated even during the British rule---particularly to Canada to work in the saw mills of British Columbia. Others had gone after 1947. Most of these migrants came from poor rural families and many of them in the UK earned their living by working as drivers and conductors in the public transportation systems of the municipalities. Some of the farmers, who had migrated to the US, did extremely well in citrus farming in California. The Yuba City in California had a prosperous community of Sikh farmers. The migrants to Canada earned their living in factories and in the public transportation systems.Despite their living in Western countries, they continued to be attached to their religion and led their lives as true Sikhs. Whenever they could save enough money, they would come to India to visit their relatives and worship in the Golden Temple in Amritsar. In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, the Sikhs, who were working abroad as salary-earners, started facing difficulties because their employers began insisting that they should shave off their beard and stop wearing turbans. This was particularly so in the public transportation companies of the UK. Moreover, the Sikh migrants in the West faced difficulties in getting permission from the municipal authorities for acquiring land and constructing gurudwaras where they could worship.In the UK, many of the affected Sikhs took up the matter with the Indian High Commission in London and sought its intervention. The High Commission declined to intervene and advised the Sikhs to approach the local authorities for a redressal of their grievances. Jawaharlal Nehru, who was India’s Prime Minister at that time, followed a hands-off policy with regard to the migrants of Indian origin living abroad. He was against the Government of India intervening on their behalf with their host governments. They were told that they should sort out matters themselves by taking up their problems with the local authorities.The affected Sikhs compared what they thought was the indifferent attitude of the Government of India with the helpful and interventionist role played by the Government of Israel in responding to the religious sensitivities of the Jewish people, wherever they might be living and whatever might be their nationality. The Israeli Government, according to the aggrieved Sikhs, always assumed a moral responsibility for protecting the religious interests of the Jewish people. Moreover, Israeli citizenship laws permitted dual nationality, whereas the Sikh migrants, who acquired a foreign nationality, had to renounce their Indian citizenship. Another demand of the Sikhs was that the Government of India should take up with Pakistan the question of facilitating pilgrimage visits by Sikhs living in India as well as abroad to their holy shrines in Pakistan such as the Nankana Sahib gurudwara.Dissatisfaction over the reluctance of the Government of India to vigorously take up such issues with other Governments gave rise to a feeling among some of the Sikh residents of the UK, the US and Canada that only by creating an independent State for the Sikhs would they be able to have their religious rights protected. A group of Sikh bus drivers and conductors in the UK formed an organization called the Sikh Home Rule Movement under the leadership of one Charan Singh Panchi. Some well-to-do Sikh farmers in the US floated an organization called the United Sikh Appeal, which was modeled after the United Jewish Appeal, which had actively supported the rights of the Jewish people and worked for an independent State of Israel. However, the majority of the Sikh communities in the West kept away from these organizations. They did not support the idea of an independent Sikh State.Before the India-Pakistan war of 1971, Dr.Jagjit Singh Chauhan, who had served for a few months between 1967 and 1969 as the Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Assembly and then as the Finance Minister of Punjab, went to London, joined the Sikh Home Rule Movement, took over its leadership and re-named it as the Khalistan movement. He wanted that the independent Sikh State to be created in Punjab should be named as Khalistan. Even before his arrival in the UK, the Pakistani High Commission and the US Embassy in London were in touch with the activists of the Sikh Home Rule Movement. They established contact with Chauhan after his arrival and started encouraging his propaganda against the Government of India in order to embarrass Indira Gandhi. Gen.Yahya Khan, Pakistan’s military dictator, invited him to Pakistan. He was received warmly and lionized as the leader of the Indian Sikh community even though he had no following in the Sikh community of Punjab. During his visit to Pakistan, the Pakistani authorities presented to him some of the Sikh holy relics kept in the gurudwaras of Pakistan. He took them with him to the UK and sought to use them in order to project himself as a leader, who could protect the religious interests of the Sikhs.Before the outbreak of the war in December, 1971, the R&AW, on the instructions of Indira Gandhi, had started a PSYWAR campaign to highlight the violation of the human rights of the people of East Pakistan and the resulting refugee exodus into India. The CIA and the ISI sought to counter this by starting a PSYWAR campaign on the alleged violation of the human rights of the Sikhs in India and the indifferent attitude of the Government of India to the problems of the Sikhs living abroad. Chauhan visited New York and met the local media and others in order to brief them on the Khalistan movement. These meetings were discreetly arranged by some members of the staff of the US National Security Council Secretariat, then headed by Dr.Henry Kissinger. On October 13, 1971, he had an advertisement published in the “New York Times” proclaiming the beginning of a movement for an independent Sikh State. Enquiries made by the R&AW indicated that the Pakistani Embassy in Washington DC had paid for this advertisement. This PSYWAR campaign against India and Indira Gandhi on the question of the alleged violation of the human rights of the Sikhs continued till 1977. When Indira Gandhi lost the elections in 1977 and was replaced by Morarji Desai, this campaign was abruptly discontinued by the CIA and the ISI. Dr. Chauhan returned to India and stopped campaigning for the creation of the so-called KhalistanIn the meanwhile, a number of other Sikh organizations formed by sections of the Sikh youth in the UK, the US and Canada came into being with names such as the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), the Dal Khalsa, the Babbar Khalsa etc. These advocated a violent campaign for the creation of Khalistan and repudiated the leadership of Dr.Chauhan, who was against resort to violence. By the end of the 1970s, the ISI had lost interest in Chauhan and started encouraging the new organizations. When Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980, Chauhan went back to London and re-started his Khalistan movement. As part of his propaganda campaign, he got postage stamps and alleged currency notes of the so-called independent State of Khalistan printed in Canada and started circulating them. He went to Ottawa, met a Chinese diplomat there and allegedly sought Chinese support for his movement. The Chinese declined. He reportedly went to Hong Kong and tried to go to Beiijing in order to meet the Chinese leaders. The Chinese authorities refused him entry into China. After 1980, he was thus spurned by China and downgraded by Pakistan, but the US continued to maintain interest in him. He frequently visited Washington DC, met US officials and members of the Congress and testified before Congressional committees on matters such as India’s relations with the USSR, the alleged presence of Soviet military officers in India etc. The CIA maintained a distance from the new Sikh youth organizations because they advocated violence, but it kept itself briefed on their plans and activities through journalists and other intermediaries.After Indira Gandhi came back to power, a new Sikh leader became active in the US. His name was Ganga Singh Dhillon, who was in the Punjab Police as a junior official before he migrated to the US and settled down in Washington DC. After migrating to the US, he married a Sikh woman of Kenyan origin, who was a close personal friend of the wife of Gen.Zia-ul-Haq, and also belonged to a Kenyan family. With the help of wives, Dhillon came to know Zia and became one of his trusted friends. He formed in Washington DC an organization called the Nankana Sahib Foundation and used to visit Pakistan often. The two families became so close to each other that when Zia visited Washington DC, his physically disadvantaged daughter used to stay with the Dhillons and not in the hotel in which Zia and his wife were put up by the local authorities. Dhillon also became a strong critic of Indira Gandhi and helped the US in the propaganda campaign against her.As a result of these activities, Suntook decided towards the end of 1980 to create a separate Division to collect intelligence about the activities of the Sikh extremist elements abroad and monitor their links with the ISI. I was put in charge of the Division. After taking over, I collected all past reports bearing on this subject, collated them and prepared a detailed background note, which I could use as a database in the Division. One day, a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) rang me up and asked me whether the R&AW had any background note on Sikh extremist activities abroad, particularly in the US. I sent him a few copies of the detailed note which I had prepared.Some days later, the office of Narasimha Rao, who had taken over as the Minister for External Affairs under Indira Gandhi, rang me up and said that Rao, who was going on a visit to the US, wanted me to meet him and brief him on Khalistani activities in the US and their links with Pakistan. I met him and briefed him. He showed me the background note, which I had prepared of which he had a copy, and asked: “This is a very good background note prepared by the MEA. Why can’t the R&AW prepare something like this?” I replied that I had, in fact, prepared it after going through the R&AW files on the subject and sent some copies to a Joint Secretary in the MEA. Rao remarked in surprise: “ But the Joint Secretary said he had prepared it!”On September 29, 1981, the then Cabinet Secretary (CS) received a flash from the New Delhi airport control tower that an aircraft of the Indian Airlines had been hijacked by some unidentified terrorists and forced to fly to Lahore. The Crisis Management Committee of the Government of India immediately met in the office of the Cabinet Secretary. The initial assessment was that the hijacking must have been carried out by the members of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), which had earlier carried out a hijacking in 1971. I was called by the Cabinet Secretary. At that time, the terrorists had not identified themselves. The CS asked me for my assessment. I disagreed with the view that the JKLF must be responsible for it and added that it was most probably carried out by a Sikh extremist organization called the Dal Khalsa headed by one Gajendra Singh. My view was not accepted because till then the Sikh extremists----apart from carrying out a massacre of some members of a sect known as the Nirankaris--- had not indulged in any act of terrorism.As I reached back my office, my Personal Assistant told me that the office of the CS was frantically trying to contact me and that they wanted me to come back to his office. When I reached there, an official in the CS’ office told me that the terrorists had identified themselves. It was some members of the Dal Khalsa led by Gajendra Singh, who had carried out the hijacking. He asked me how I was able to identify them before they had identified themselves. I replied that a few days earlier the then “New York Times” correspondent in New Delhi had visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar and met some members of the Dal Khalsa. He had also interviewed Gajendra Singh on the objectives of the Dal Khalsa and the problems of the Sikhs. In that interview, Gajendra Singh had said: “The time has come for the Dal Khalsa to emulate the Palestine Liberation Organisation.” The official asked me whether the “New York Times” published the interview. I said I did not know since I did not get the paper. He asked: “How then do you know he was interviewed by its New Delhi correspondent?” I replied that the IB used to intercept for the Press Information Bureau all telex despatches sent by the foreign correspondents based in New Delhi to their headquarters. They used to circulate to all senior officers dealing with national security intercepts of relevant despatches. They had intercepted the telex message sent by the “New York Times” correspondent to his headquarters about his meeting with Gajendra Singh and other members of the Dal Khalsa. I also received a copy of that intercept.The Pakistani authorities persuaded the hijackers to release the passengers and the plane and to surrender themselves. The plane with the passengers returned to India. The surrendered hijackers, including Gajendra Singh, were allowed to live in the Nankana Sahib gurudwara. The Zil-ul-Haq Government refused to hand them over to the Government of India for investigation and trial. They promised that they would try them in their court after proper investigation. They made a sham of an investigation and trial. They were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, but instead of sending them to jail, they were allowed to continue living in Nankana Sahib. Gajendra Singh used to meet Sikh pilgrims visiting Nankana Sahib from India and abroad and carry on propaganda against the Government of India. New Delhi’s protests against this used to be rejected by the Pakistani authorities.Three more hijackings followed, with a similar course of events. The Pakistani authorities would allow the plane to land, facilitate interactions between the hijackers and the media to enable the hijackers indulge in anti-India and anti-Indira propaganda, persuade them to release the passengers and the aircraft so that they could return to India, make a pretense of arresting the hijackers and allow them to stay in a gurudwara instead of in a prison. However, in the case of the fifth and last hijacking on August 24, 1984, they did not follow this drill since their earlier fraternization with the hijackers of the previous flights had come in for criticism from some sections of the international community. When this aircraft landed in Lahore, the ISI officials found that the terrorists had hijacked it with a toy and not a real weapon. They, therefore, gave the terrorists a revolver and persuaded them to go to Dubai. When the plane landed at Dubai, the authorities of the United Arab Emirates persuaded them to terminate the hijacking, by promising that they would not be handed over to the Indian authorities. The hijackers released the plane and passengers so that they could go back to India and handed over the revolver to the security authorities of Dubai. They wanted that they should be allowed to go to the US. They seemed confident that the US would not act against them.As soon as the Government of India came to know of the plane taking off from Lahore for Dubai, they despatched a joint team of the IB, the R&AW, the MEA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation to Dubai to interact with the Dubai authorities and persuade them to hand over the hijackers to India along with the revolver for trial as soon as the hijacking was terminated. Initially, the UAE authorities seemed hesitant to do so. Indira Gandhi deputed Romesh Bhandari, then Secretary in the MEA, who had very high level contacts in the ruling family and the bureaucracy of the UAE to go to Dubai to persuade the UAE authorities to hand over the hijackers and the revolver. He was successful in his mission. An aircraft chartered from a Western company was sent to Dubai with a joint team of officers from the IB, the R&AW, one of the central para-military forces and the MEA. It was headed by an officer of the R&AW, who was then on deputation to the MEA to be in charge of security in the Ministry and the Indian diplomatic missions abroad. After the plane landed in Dubai, all the members of the Indian team stayed inside the aircraft so that the hijackers were not able to see them.After the aircraft had landed, the Dubai authorities told the hijackers that as desired by them they were being handed over to the US authorities and that a special plane had come from the US to take them. They were then taken to the chartered aircraft and handed over to the Indian security team inside, along with the revolver. Only then the hijackers realised that they had been misled and that they were actually being taken to India. By then, it was too late for them to do anything. The pilot and the other members of the crew of the aircraft were also taken by surprise because they did not know that the aircraft had been chartered by the Indian security establishment for flying back the hijackers. They murmured some protest, but ultimately flew back to Delhi with the hijackers.This was a brilliant piece of operation made possible by the co-operation of the UAE authorities, the excellent contacts of Romesh Bhandari in the Gulf countries in general and in the UAE in particular and the professionalism of the Indian security team headed by the R&AW officer. However, all this would not have been possible but for the high regard in which Indira Gandhi was held in the UAE. When some terrorists belonging to the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) of Pakistan hijacked an Indian Airlines plane from Kathmandu in December, 1999, they first took it to Lahore and then Dubai before finally going to Kandahar. The Government of the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not get the same kind of co-operation from the UAE authorities as Indira Gandhi was able to get. They allowed the plane to proceed to Kandahar after re-fuelling it. The failure of the Vajpayee Government to persuade the UAE authorities to terminate the hijacking could be attributed partly to its lack of good contacts in the UAE and partly to its image in the Gulf as anti-Muslim. Moreover, the MEA did not have in 1999 any senior officer with the kind of high-level contacts in the ruling circles of the Gulf countries as Romesh Bhandari had.His contacts were not confined to the Gulf countries only. He had similar high-level contacts in South-East Asia. Once the R&AW received information that a Khalistani terrorist had taken shelter in the Philippines. It immediately sought the assistance of Bhandari. He was able to persuade senior officials in Manila to pick him up informally without arresting him and hand him over to the Indian security officials. In order to avoid media publicity, which might have invited judicial intervention, they picked him up and detained him in an Air Force base in the interior of the Philippines. An ARC plane flew in there and brought him to India. Such informal networking and contacts at the political and bureaucratic levels greatly help in counter-terrorism. One got an impression that the Vajpayee Government was not able to develop such networking during the six years it was in office.The revolver given by the ISI to the hijackers at Lahore before the aircraft was taken to Dubai was of West German make. The R&AW sent the details of the revolver to its counterpart in the then West Germany and sought its help for ascertaining to whom the West German company had sold it. After making the necessary enquiries, the West German intelligence intimated that the revolver was part of a consignment sold by the company to the Pakistan Army. The Government of India immediately shared this information with US officials and pointed out that it was a fit case for declaring Pakistan a State-sponsor of international terrorism. The US authorities did not agree. They said that there was no credible evidence to show that this revolver was given to the terrorists by a Pakistani official. The information that the revolver was handed over to the hijackers at Lahore by Pakistani officials came from one of the passengers of the hijacked aircraft, who had seen the revolver being handed over. During the interrogation, the hijackers also admitted that they got the revolver at Lahore from Pakistani officials. But, the US authorities were not prepared to accept this oral evidence as conclusive proof against Pakistan.The action of the Dubai authorities in handing over the hijackers and the revolver to Indian officials created a scare in Khalistani circles and some nervousness in the ISI too. As a result, hijackings by Khalistani terrorists stopped completely. There were some instances of hijackings subsequently too, but these were carried out by individual elements unconnected with the Khalistan movement.When the ISI noticed the motivation and the determination of the Khalistani elements, it decided to exploit them for its purposes to create instability in the Punjab. It set up clandestine camps for training and arming the Khalistani recruits in Pakistani Punjab and in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). Gajendra Singh, the hijacker of the Dal Khalsa, was put in charge of these training camps. Other Sikh terrorists such as Talwinder Singh Parmar of the Babbar Khalsa in Vancouver, who was involved in the massacre of some Nirankaris in Punjab, Manjit Singh alias Lal Singh of the ISYF, Canada, and Gurdip Singh Sivia of th ISYF, UK, were allowed to visit these training camps in Pakistani territory and motivate the Khalistani recruits. Many Khalistani elements from India were also allowed to cross over into Pakistan and provided with safe sanctuaries. This was the time when the ISI was in receipt of large funds from the Saudi and US intelligence agencies and arms and ammunition from the US for arming the Afghan Mujahideen against the Soviet troops. These flows continued till the Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 1988-89. The ISI diverted part of these funds and arms and ammunition to the Khalistani terrorists.After giving up hijackings as a weapon, the Khalistani terrorists intensified their terrorism on the ground in Punjab and Delhi. Initially, they committed many acts of terrorism with hand-held weapons given by the ISI. Then, they started using improvised explosive devices (IEDs)---- timed as well as remote-controlled. The explosives, detonators and timers were supplied by the ISI. There were targeted killings of political leaders, officials, journalists and innocent civilians such as farm workers from other parts of India.During the training in Pakistan, the ISI impressed on them the need to weaken the economy of Punjab by attacking its irrigation canals and the farm workers from other parts of India, who go to Punjab to work there. It also emphasized the need to extend their operations to Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and other parts of India. There was hardly any reaction from the Western Governments to the ISI’s sponsoring of terrorism against India in Punjab. The ISI looked upon its operations in support of the Khalistan movement as a reprisal for India’s role in the liberation of Bangladesh. It also felt that the destabilization of Punjab would weaken India’s ability to maintain internal security in Jammu & Kashmir and enable the Pakistan Army to annex J&K. The ISI code-named its operation as Operation K-K (Khalistan-Kashmir).Initially, the Khalistani terrorists did not have much ground support from the people of Punjab, but the position changed in their favour after the Asian Games of November 19-December 4, 1982, which were held in Delhi. Around that time, the London-based Jagjit Singh Chauhan flew to Bangkok and from there proceeded to Kathmandu to meet some Khalistani elements from Punjab. The R&AW officer in Bangkok detected his arrival in Bangkok from London through his sources. The R&AW kept him under surveillance in Bangkok as well as Kathmandu. The Government of India requested the Nepalese authorities to pick him up and hand him over to the Indian Police. They did not oblige. They picked him up and put him on board a flight to Bangkok. The Thai authorities were not helpful either. They forced him to go back to London. Before the Games, the IB and the R&AW were in receipt of alarming reports that the Khalistani terrorists were planning to disturb the Games through IEDs. The Police and the central para-military forces took tight security measures. Security barriers were set up on all roads leading to Delhi. Cars and buses were stopped and many Sikhs were subjected to physical search for any concealed weapons or IEDs. The feelings of humiliation caused by these measures drove many Sikhs of Punjab and Delhi into the arms of the Khalistani terrorists. The years 1983 and 1984 saw a serious deterioration of the situation in Punjab. The Khalistani terrorists started using the Golden Temple in Amritsar as a sanctuary for their operations. On April 26, 1983, A.S.Atwal, a Deputy Inspector-General of Police of Punjab, was gunned down by the terrorists as he was coming out of the Golden Temple.The ill-advised actions of Zail Singh, former Home Minister, who subsequently became the President of India, in trying to use Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to create a split among the Khalistanis in the hope of thereby weakening them boomeranged. Instead of weakening them, he became their leader. He acquired a religious aura and attracted a number of Sikh peasants and other poor Sikhs to the Khalistan cause. He and his supporters took shelter inside the Golden Temple at Amritsar and started operating from there. The number of incidents of terrorism started going up. Punjab and even Delhi kept bleeding more and more. There was panic in the Government when the trans-border sources of the IB and the R&AW started reporting that the ISI had been infiltrating Pakistani ex-servicemen and even some serving members of the Pakistan Army into Punjab to help the Khalistanis. There were even some reports that some of these Pakistani mercenaries had taken up position inside the Golden Temple and were acting as advisers to Bhindranwale and other Khalistani leaders.The alarm caused by these developments and reports made Indira Gandhi contemplate for the first time sending the Army inside the temple to arrest the terrorists and their supporters. However, before doing so, she tried frantically to find a political solution and to use the leaders of the Akali Dal for persuading Bhindranwale and other terrorists to vacate the temple. Rajiv Gandhi and two of his close associates held a number of secret meetings with Akali Dal leaders in a New Delhi guest house of the R&AW. I was given the task of making arrangements for these meetings, recording the discussions, transcribing them and putting up the transcripts to Kao for briefing Indira Gandhi. These talks failed to persuade the Akali Dal leaders to see reason and co-operate with the Government of India by persuading the Khalistani elements to vacate the Golden Temple peacefully. These transcripts, which were kept in the top secret archives of the R&AW, were very valuable records with historic value. They showed how earnestly Indira Gandhi tried to avoid having to send the Army into the Golden Temple. One hopes they are kept safely and would be available for future historians.Simultaneously, Indira Gandhi also sent Kao abroad to contact foreign-based Khalistani elements and seek their co-operation for making Bhindranwale and other Khalistani elements vacate the Golden Temple. Two other officers of the R&AW and I accompanied him. My job was again to record the discussions secretly, transcribe them and put up the transcripts to Kao for briefing Indira Gandhi on our return to India. A Khalistani leader from the US, who met Kao in Zurich, offered to try to help if he was allowed to go into the Golden Temple and meet Bhindranwale. As proof of his goodwill, he claimed that the Khalistani elements in the US had planned to kill the R&AW officer in Washington DC, but he had prevented them from doing so. There was no way of verifying his claim. I was told that Indira Gandhi was against accepting his proposal to send him inside the temple. She felt that if this person also stayed behind inside the temple and joined Bhindranwale it could add to the problems of the Government of India.Things thereafter started moving inexorably towards an army raid into the Golden Temple in order to arrest Bhindranwale and all terrorists, who had taken shelter there. There was some unease in the intelligence community over the wisdom of the proposed course of action. One had an impression that Kao felt that it would be better to be patient for some weeks instead of taking any precipitate action, which might prove counter-productive or, if immediate action was considered necessary, to use the police and the central para-military forces instead of the Army. The Army is trained in a manner different from the police. Once the Army is launched into action, it has to prevail over the adversary. In the case of the police, it tunes its action to suit the circumstances. It does not have to prevail whatever be the circumstances. If it finds that the resistance of the adversary is high and that its attempts to prevail could cause high fatalities, it does not mind withdrawing and awaiting a better opportunity, when it can prevail at much less human cost. I was given to understand that at the request of Kao, two officers of the British Security Service (MI-5) visited the Golden Temple as tourists and gave a similar advice to Indira Gandhi---- be patient and avoid action or use the police. There was also concern in the intelligence community over the likely repercussions of any Army raid on the discipline of the large number of Sikh soldiers of the Army, but senior Army officers were confident that there would be no negative impact on the Sikh soldiers. Ultimately, when the raid was made, their confidence was belied and the concerns of the intelligence community proved correct. There were instances of resentment openly expressed---and even violently at one place—in the Army, but these were brought under control after some initial anxiety.The Army’s raid into the Golden Temple from June 3 to 6, 1984, code-named Operation Blue Star, was not a totally tidy operation. It experienced more resistance than it anticipated from Bhindranwale, his followers and the terrorists inside the temple. In the prolonged exchange of fire, Bhindranwale was killed and the Akal Takht was badly damaged. There were instances of violent protests by the Sikhs in some parts of Punjab and other parts of the country. The Operation caused deep feelings of hurt in the hearts of large sections of the Sikh community in India and abroad. Its negative consequences were to be felt for another eleven years. Among these consequences was the assassination of Indira Gandhi by two of her Sikh bodyguards belonging to the Delhi Police on October 31, 1984.Lt.Gen.Sunderji, who co-ordinated the Operation, blamed the intelligence agencies for the untidy operation. He claimed that the Khalistanis were much larger in number inside the temple than he had been told by the intelligence agencies and much better armed. He blamed what he projected as the poor intelligence for the long time taken by the Army to overcome the resistance and take control of the temple. Over-confidence in his ability to score easy success before launching difficult and sensitive operations and a tendency to blame the intelligence agencies when his over-confidence was found to have been misplaced were the defining characteristics of Gen.Sunderji. One saw them during and after Operation Blue Star and one saw them again after he took over as the Chief of the Army Staff, when the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) went to Sri Lanka.Many ISI-trained Khalistani terrorists were arrested during the raid. Large quantities of arms and ammunition supplied to the terrorists by the ISI were recovered. But not a single Pakistani Army mercenary---serving or retired--- was found inside the temple. The reports of the IB and the R&AW in this regard were found to have been wrong. Many of these reports had come from trans-border sources such as smugglers etc. In some instances, the same source was reporting to the IB, the R&AW and the Military Intelligence without these organizations being aware of it. The lack of co-ordination in trans-border operations often resulting in inaccurate, misleading and alarming reporting continues to be the bane of our intelligence community.More than the large number of casualties, what hurt the Sikhs deeply was the damage caused to the Akal Takht by the Army action. At the instance of Indira Gandhi, some Sikh leaders of her party organized a ‘kar seva’ (voluntary religious work) to have the Akal Takht repaired. But it was not that easy to repair the hurt in the hearts of large sections of the Sikh community all over the world. This lingering hurt aggravated the problem of Khalistani terrorism and led to the assassination of Indira Gandhi the same year and of Gen.A.S.Vaidya, who was the Chief of the Army Staff at the time of the operation, in 1986 in Pune, where he was living after his superannuation

(I’m not sure why but my answer has been deleted, collapsed several times after I first published this in March. I hope to present the early facts in a chronological order.If you appreciate my effort at providing factual reporting on this pandemic please share it)Chronology is important to retain a logical sense of this crisis. I noticed people are passing out misinformation - half-truths - about this virus. For example, they say that China covered up the crisis in January. To an extent, that might be true. There was some reports that indicated that Chinese doctors were aware of this virus in December and they were not allowed to discuss the threat of this publicly. This does not seem to be a “cover up” but more due to bureaucratic procedure. Tests had to be performed to determine if this was a novel virus, and whether it was infectious.If you dig deeper and examine the facts dispassionately, you will note that the Chinese medical authorities confirmed that this new virus could pass human to human transmission on January 20th, 2020. So to say, the Chinese govt covered this up in January is false.To understand this pandemic and make sense of it, you have got to view this in a chronological time order.The virus is novel - i.e., it is new. No one has seen anything like it. No one has immunity to it. The last time humanity experienced something as ferocious as this was 100 years ago during the “Spanish flu” pandemic (which probably originated from Kansas, America). It killed more people than the Great War.Thankfully, as of April 2020, this new virus is not as deadly. Most people who catch it will survive. Children don’t seem to suffer too much. Thankfully, very few children have died from it. Most of the fatalities are people in their 80s. Many people who have the virus show little symptoms of it and require no serious medical treatment. And this may have confused people whether this was truly infectious.Unfortunately, this new virus occurred during winter in China, doctors who first saw patients would have assumed it was just a flu. And who could blame them?People who have it may show no symptoms for 14 days. It was also highly infectious. But because of the long incubation period, and the fact that some people showed no sign of infection - confused people.So here we go.Forbes/ ABC News:The White House’s National Security Council, the Pentagon’s Joint Staff and the Defense Intelligence Agency were all briefed on the impacts of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, as early as late November, according to ABC News, citing four unnamed sources familiar with a classified intelligence report. The briefing, if true, adds to mounting evidence that the U.S. government could have acted much sooner to contain the virus.An intelligence report from the military’s National Center for Medical Intelligence in November, compiled through wire and computer interception and satellite imagery, reportedly concluded that an outbreak of the virus “could be a cataclysmic event.”ABC's sources also noted that the report was available for anyone with intelligence clearance and other community bulletins were being shared across the government around Thanksgiving, following the release of the report.Dec. 26th, four cases of unusual pneumonia were logged by a hospital in Wuhan.Dec. 27th, the treating doctor reported it to the local CDC in China.Dec 30th Ai Fen, director of Wuhan Central Hospital’s emergency department, told Chinese magazine People that a colleague sent her a diagnostic report in late December of a worrying infection that mirrored severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), according to the South China Morning Post.Ai shared a picture of the report on a WeChat group on December 30, and then its members circulated that photo more widely. Whistleblower Doctor - he was an eye doctor - Li Wenliang 34, who was silenced by Chinese officials and then died of the COVID-19 virus, was part of that group.Ai said she also gave hospital authorities a heads-up about the virus.I even grabbed our hospital respiratory department director, who happened to be passing my office, and told him that one of his patients was confirmed to have been infected with a SARS-like virus,” Ai said to People magazine.The next day, hospital leaders told Ai that Wuhan’s health commission had forbidden frontline medical workers from saying anything about the virus in a bid to avoid panic.Ai said she was also censured by a hospital official, who accused her of “spreading rumours,” the Post reported. She was ordered to not speak about it even to her husband and to inform her staff members that they were not permitted to publicly disclose any information about the illness.“My mind just went blank,” Ai told the magazine. “He wasn’t criticising me for not working hard … He made me feel that I alone had ruined the future of Wuhan. I was in despair.”One week later, a hospital nurse, Hu Ziwei, fell sick, Ai said.“How could I refrain from discussions with my medical colleagues knowing that a new and significant virus had emerged? I followed my intuition as a doctor so what mistakes did I make?” Ai wondered.Evidence of human-to-human transmissionIt has been widely reported that the coronavirus originated in a wet market in Wuhan, and Ai said initial patients were in some ways linked to the market. But, soon that trend changed, and more family clusters began to show up.“If there’s no people-to-people transmission, why did the patients continue to increase after the Huanan market was closed?” Ai said.Dec 31st, Wuhan Health Commission notified China CDC and the WHO. The WHO promptly alerted the world.On December 31 last year, China alerted WHO to several cases of unusual pneumonia in Wuhan, a port city of 11 million people in the central Hubei province. The virus was unknown.Several of those infected worked at the city's Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which was shut down on January 1.As health experts worked to identify the virus amid growing alarm, the number of infections exceeded 40.On January 5, Chinese officials ruled out the possibility that this was a recurrence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus - an illness that originated in China and killed more than 770 people worldwide in 2002-2003.January 8th NYT reported:Chinese researchers say they have identified a new virus behind an illness that has infected dozens of people across Asia, setting off fears in a region that was struck by a deadly epidemic 17 years ago.First US case of coronavirus reported in Washington State.There is no evidence that the new virus is readily spread by humans, which would make it particularly dangerous, and it has not been tied to any deaths. But health officials in China and elsewhere are watching it carefully to ensure that the outbreak does not develop into something more severe.Researchers in China have “initially identified” the new virus, a coronavirus, as the pathogen behind a mysterious pneumonia illness that infected 59 people in Wuhan city and caused a panic in the central Chinese region, the state broadcaster, China Central Television, said on Thursday. They detected this virus in 15 of the people who fell ill, the report said.January 7, Chinese officials announced they had identified a new virus, according to the WHO. The novel virus was named 2019-nCoV and was identified as belonging to the coronavirus family, which includes SARS and the common cold.Coronaviruses are common and spread through being close to an infected person and inhaling droplets generated when they cough or sneeze, or touching a surface where these droplets land and then touching one's face or nose.January 11, China announced its first deathfrom the virus, a 61-year-old man who had purchased goods from the seafood market. Treatment did not improve his symptoms after he was admitted to hospital and he died of heart failure on the evening of January 9.January 13, the WHO reported a case in Thailand, the first outside of China, in a woman who had arrived from Wuhan.January 16, Japan's health ministry reported a confirmed case in a man who had also visited Wuhan.January 17, as a second death was reported in Wuhan, health authorities in the US announced that three airports would start screening passengers arriving from the city.Authorities in the United States, Nepal, France, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan confirmed cases over the following days.January 19, BBC reports:The new Chinese virus which has already spread abroad "is still preventable and controllable", China National Health Commission warned, however, that close monitoring was needed given the source, transmission and mutation methods were unknown.On January 20, China reported a third death and more than 200 infections, with cases also reported outside Hubei province including in the capital Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.January 20th, Zhong Nanshan, a respiratory expert and head of the national health commission team investigating the outbreak, confirmed that two cases of infection in China’s Guangdong province had been caused by human-to-human transmission and medical staff had been infected, China’s official Xinhua news agency said on Monday. (Guardian Jan20,2020)"Currently, it can be said it is affirmative that there is the phenomenon of human-to-human transmission," Zhong Nanshan, head of the National Health Commission, expert respiratory infections, interview with China's CCTV state broadcaster, January 20, 2020.Zhong said two people in Guangdong province, southern China caught the disease from family members who had visited Wuhan.Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore ramped up measures to block the spread of the virus, introducing mandatory screenings at airports of all arrivals from high-risk areas of China.January 20, Eric Feigl-Ding, a Harvard-affiliated public-health researcher who lives in Washington, D.C., read a paper about the new virus spreading out of Wuhan, China. The paper estimated that the virus’s contagiousness, which is captured in a variable called R0 was 3.8—meaning that every person who caught the disease would give it to almost 4 other people. The paper cautioned that there was “considerable uncertainty associated with the outbreak,” . Feigl-Ding said, “I read that 3.8 value and tweeted:“HOLY MOTHER OF GOD—the new coronavirus is a 3.8!! How bad is that reproductive R0 value? It is thermonuclear pandemic level bad—never seen an actual virality coefficient outside of Twitter in my entire career. I’m not exaggerating.”(In January 28, Alexis C. Madrigal, Atlantic online magazine, mocked Feigi-Ding - claiming he exaggerated the problem in an article entitled,“How to Misinform Yourself About the Coronavirus: Even if you avoid the conspiracy theories, tweeting through a global emergency is messy, context-free, and disorienting.”)January 21, Dr. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared on television to reassure the public that the Wuhan coronavirus was not worth worrying about:GREG KELLY: Bottom line. We don’t have to worry about this one right?FAUCI: Well obviously we have to take it seriously and follow the things the CDC an DHS are doing but this is not a major threat to the people of the United States and this is not something that the citizens of the United States right now should be worried about.January 22, the death toll in China jumped to 17 with more than 550 infections. Many European airports stepped up checks on flights from Wuhan.Wuhan was placed under quarantine on January 23 as air and rail departures were suspended.The same measures were announced for two more cities in Hubei province: Xiantao and Chibi.Beijing cancelled events for the Lunar New Year, starting on January 25, while officials reported the first death outside Hubei.The WHO said later on January 23 that the outbreak did not yet constitute a public emergency of international concern and there was "no evidence" of the virus spreading between humans outside of China.January 22nd: Trump is asked about the coronavirus at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Days earlier the first case of the coronavirus was detected in the U.S., in a man who had returned to Seattle from a trip to China earlier in January.“No, not at all. We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control,” Trump told CNBC. “It’s going to be just fine.”By January 24, the death toll in China stood at 26, with the government reporting more than 830 infections.The number of cities under lockdown in Hubei rose to 13, affecting 41 million people.Shanghai Disneyland shut down and other cities announced the closure of entertainment venues. Beijing said a section of the Great Wall and other famous landmarks would also be closed.On January 25, travel restrictions were imposed on a further five cities in Hubei, taking the overall number of people affected to 56 million.Hong Kong meanwhile declared a virus emergency, cancelled Lunar New Year celebrations and restricted links to mainland China.On January 26, the death toll rose to 56, with almost 2,000 cases confirmed as travel restrictions were increased and Hong Kong closed its Disneyland and Ocean Park theme parks.New cases were confirmed in the US, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan and South Korea.As of January 27, the death toll in China rose to 106, with 100 in Hubei province, authorities reported. Another 4,515 people in China were reported to be infected. There were 2,714 confirmed cases in Hubei province, up from 1,423 the day before.January 27, in a live TV interview the Australian Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said:We don't believe that there is any reason to cancel any public gatherings. There is no evidence of human to human transmission in Australia. Were there evidence of human to human transmission, that's a very different matter.QUESTION: The Chinese Health Commission is now saying that people can be contagious during the incubation period. Is that something that you accept and does it change your response at all?BRENDAN MURPHY: Again, the expert panels that met later today were not convinced of that at the moment. They were not convinced that evidence is being presented. It would be very unusual because this virus is similar to the SARS and MERS viruses and they were not infectious before symptoms. And the evidence that we've seen doesn't suggest there's clear proof of that. But we're urgently seeking urgent advice from the World Health Organization and international experts because if that were to be the case, it would have implications for how we do contact tracing.On January 30, the WHO, the WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION, DECLARED CORONA VIRUS A GLOBAL EMERGENCY as the death toll in China jumped to 170, with 7,711 cases reported in the country, where the virus had spread to all 31 provinces.India and the Philippines confirmed their first cases of the virus, with one infected patient in each country.January 30th: Trump addresses the coronavirus during a speech on trade in Michigan.“We think we have it very well under control,” Trump said. “We have very little problem in this country at this moment — five — and those people are all recuperating successfully. But we’re working very closely with China and other countries, and we think it’s going to have a very good ending for us.”“Hopefully it won’t be as bad as some people think it could be,” he added.January 31, the number of confirmed cases in China jumped to 9,809. Russia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom confirmed their first cases of the virus.January 30, Australia Medical Ass. President, Dr Tony Bartone, in an interview“we have already instituted significant measures to ensure and protect the safety of the Australian public. … We don't need a 600-bed hospital. We just need somewhere where we can house, monitor, and isolate, with the same self-isolation practicalities that we're expecting everyone else to take part in if they have returned from Hubei in past 14 days.”On February 1, the death toll in China rose to 259, with 11,791 confirmed infections in the country, according to new figures released by the Chinese health authorities.New cases were confirmed in Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the US, the UAE and Vietnam.As of February 2, the first death outside China, of a Chinese man from Wuhan, was reported in the Philippines.The death toll in China rose to 304, with 14,380 infections reported.On February 3, China reported 57 new deaths, bringing its death toll to at least 361. The number of cases rose to 17,205 across the country.On February 4, China said the death toll rose to 425 people and the number of infected people stood at 20,438 in the mainland. Hong Kong also reported one death, bringing global deaths to 427. The first case was confirmed in Belgium in a person who was repatriated from Wuhan.On February 5, more flights evacuating US citizens returned from Wuhan and the WHO reaffirmed there was "no known effective treatment" for the coronavirus.Meanwhile, China reported 490 deaths and 24,324 cases of infection.On February 6, the death toll in mainland China rose to at least 563, with more than 28,000 cases confirmed.Meanwhile, authorities in Malaysia reported the country's first known human-to-human transmission and the number of people infected in Europe reached 30.On February 7, Li Wenliang, a doctor who was among the first to sound the alarm over the coronavirus, died. Hong Kong introduced prison sentences for anyone breaching quarantine rules.Mainland China confirmed the death toll had reached at least 636, with 31,161 cases of infection and Chinese researchers suggested the pangolin may have been one link in the chain of animal-human infections.On February 8, a US citizen died in Wuhan.A Japanese man in his 60s with a suspected coronavirus infection also died in hospital in Wuhan, Japan's foreign ministry said.The death toll in China reached 722, with 34,546 confirmed infections.On February 9, the death toll in China surpassed that of the 2002-03 SARS epidemic, with 811 deaths recorded and 37,198 infections.An investigative team led by experts from the WHO departed for China.As of February 10, China had 908 confirmed deaths and a total of 40,171 infections - 97 new deaths were reported following the deadliest day of the outbreak.President Xi Jinping appeared in public for the first time since the epidemic began, visiting a hospital in Beijing and urging confidence in the battle against the virus.February 10th: Trump says the coronavirus will be gone by the end of the spring while speaking with reporters in the White House.“Now, the virus that we’re talking about having to do — you know, a lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat, as the heat comes in. Typically, that will go away in April. We’re in great shape, though. We have 12 cases, 11 cases, and many of them are in good shape now.”Days later, Centers for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield estimates the “virus is probably with us beyond this season and beyond this year.”On February 11, the WHO announced that the new corona virus would be called "COVID-19".Meanwhile, deaths in China reached 1,016, with 42,638 infections recorded.As of February 12, there were 175 people infected on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, docked at Yokohama, the Japanese health ministry said.The death toll in mainland China hit 1,113, with 44,653 infections recorded.On February 13, North Korea imposed a month-long quarantine on all foreign visitors and others suspected to have COVID-19, the official Korean Central News Agency said.The death toll in mainland China hit 1,300, with nearly 60,000 infections recorded. Meanwhile, Japan confirmed its first death from the virus.On February 14, Egypt became the first country in Africa to report a case and France reported Europe's first death from the virus.China reported 121 more deaths, bringing to the total number across the mainland to nearly 1,400.February 14th: President Trump says:, “There’s a theory that, in April, when it gets warm, historically, that has been able to kill the virus,” he said while speaking to the National Border Patrol Council. “So we don’t know yet. We’re not sure yet. But that’s around the corner.”February 15 - death toll in mainland China surge past 1,500, with 66,492 infections confirmed in mainland China.Elsewhere, the US prepared to evacuate its citizens from a cruise ship quarantined at a Japanese dock.February 16 : Australian Sky News host Paul Murray says the reason China hid its knowledge of the severity of coronavirus is because “it never wants to admit fault”.Meanwhile, a February 3 speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping, published by state media, indicated the government knew about the threat of the virus well before the public alarm was raised.On February 16, Taiwan recorded its first death of a taxi driver in his 60s due to the coronavirus.Authorities reported that 1,665 people had died in mainland China with 68,500 cases of infection reported.As of February 17, there were 1,770 deaths reported in mainland China and 70,548 cases.Japan confirmed 99 new cases of the virus on board the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship.February 17th The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will begin testing for Coronavirus in 5 major US cities for people who show up at clinics with flu-like symptoms but who test negative for the seasonal varieties. If that testing shows the virus has slipped into the country in places federal officials don't know about, "we've got a problem," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told USA TODAY's Editorial Board Monday.Fauci advised Americans to skip the masks unless you are contagious, don't worry about catching anything from Chinese products and certainly don't avoid Chinese people or restaurants.The only people who need masks are those who are already infected to keep from exposing others. The masks sold at drugstores aren't even good enough to truly protect anyone. If you look at the masks that you buy in a drug store, the leakage around that doesn't really do much to protect you. People start saying, 'Should I start wearing a mask?' Now, in the United States, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to wear a mask.Whenever you have the threat of a transmissible infection, there are varying degrees from understandable to outlandish extrapolations of fear. Another official said, “We want to reassure the public that at this time there is no evidence that food or food packaging have been associated with transmission and no reason to be concerned. Further, there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with imported goods, including food and drugs for humans and pets, and there have not been any cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. associated with imported goods."Do what we tell you to do all the time. Wash your hands as frequently as you can. Stay away from crowded places where people are coughing and sneezing. If, in fact you are coughing and sneezing, cover your cough. All the things that we say each year. That's the thing we should be doing right now. But the danger of getting coronavirus now is just minusculely low.Wash your hands as frequently as you can. Stay away from crowded places where people are coughing and sneezing. If in fact you are coughing and sneezing, cover your mouth. … You know, all the things that we say each year. Dr. Anthony Fauci, USAtoday 17–2–20February 18 saw China's daily infection figures drop below 2,000 for the first time since January, with the country's health commission reporting 72,436 infections on the mainland and 1,868 deaths.Meanwhile, Russia said it would ban entry for Chinese citizens from February 20.On February 19, Iran reported two deaths from the coronavirus, hours after confirming its first cases.China's daily infection figures drop below 2,000 for the second straight day, with the country's health commission reporting 74,185 infections on the mainland and 2,004 deaths.On February 20, South Korea reported its first death from the coronavirus.Meanwhile, China reported the death toll had risen to 2,118 while the total number of cases reached 74,576. The country's health commission reported daily infections dropped to the lowest in almost a month, a result of authorities only counting cases confirmed by genetic testing in Hubei.February 20, Professor Brendan Murphy, Chief Medical Officer of Australia: “there is no evidence whatsoever at the moment of community transmission from person to person in the general community in Australia. So people can go about their business. They don’t need to go around wearing masks. We’ve got a rule in the Health Department now that if anyone goes out to dinner, we go to the Chinese restaurants because there is no risk at all at the moment. (Health gov news: Interview with Alan Jones 2GB Radio)On February 21, South Korea reported its second death and 100 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total to 204. In mainland China, the death toll reached 2,236 as the confirmed cases of the infection rose above 75,400.Also, Israel reported its first confirmed case of the coronavirus after a woman who returned from a cruise ship tested positive.In Italy, the region of Lombardy reported the first local transmission of the virus with three new cases bringing the total in the country to six infections.On February 22, South Korea saw its largest spike in a single day with 229 new cases of the virus.Italy reported its first two deaths, while Iran confirmed a fifth death among 10 new infections. A sixth death was later confirmed, though it was not clear whether this case was included in the country's 28 confirmed cases.In mainland China, the number of new infections fell significantly with 397 cases reported.February 23 saw several countries close their borders with Iran as the number of infections and deaths in the country grew.In Italy, officials confirmed a third death, while local authorities brought the Venice Carnival to an early close and suspended sports events in an attempt to combat the spread of the virus in Europe's worst-hit country.On February 24, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Afghanistan and Oman all reported their first cases of the virus. Meanwhile, the number of cases in South Korea ballooned to 833 cases with seven deaths.The death toll in China rose to 2,595 among 77,262 confirmed cases.A seventh death was reported in northern Italy.February 25: The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!February 25. Dr. Helen Y. Chu, an American infectious disease expert in Seattle, USA ordered her staff to begin testing for the novel corona virus without Federal government approval. They quickly found a victim who had not travelled outside of USA.It must have been here this entire time. It’s just everywhere already. Dr Helen Chu, Interview, New York Times, 10 March, 2020.When they reported their findings to the FDA, they were ordered to stop at once because of red-tape.On February 25, Iran's deputy health minister, who had a day earlier given a press briefing on the outbreak, confirmed that he had coronavirus. The country's official total reached 95 cases with 15 deaths.Meanwhile, China's reported cases continued to plateau, with 518 new infections and 71 new deaths confirmed. South Korea's confirmed cases rose to 977 while Italy's reached 229.On February 26, the global death toll neared 2,800 with a total of about 80,000 confirmed infection cases reported globally.February 26, Andrew Bolt: Australian Skynews journalist: So much fear about a virus that has so far called fewer than 3000 people which, yes, is very serious, but then every year related flu viruses kill up 650,000 around the world without causing a bit of panic. (By late March, Bolt is calling for sanctions on China and accusing China of a cover-up)Norway, Romania, Greece, Georgia, Pakistan, North Macedonia and Brazil all detected their first cases of the coronavirus.February 26th: During a press briefing at the White House, Trump claims that positive cases will soon begin to decrease.“We’re going to be pretty soon at only five people,” he said. “And we could be at just one or two people over the next short period of time. So we’ve had very good luck.”“I think every aspect of our society should be prepared,” he added later. “I don’t think it’s going to come to that, especially with the fact that we’re going down, not up. We’re going very substantially down, not up.”On February 27, Estonia, Denmark, Northen Ireland and the Netherlands reported their first coronavirus cases. The number of infections passed 82,000 worldwide, including more than 2,800 deaths.Italy has seen a spike in infections which jumped to 650, while 3 more people died with the tally of deaths now at 17.Meanwhile in the US, the administration is considering invoking the Defense Production Act which would grant President Donald Trump the power to expand industrial production of key materials or products for national security.February 27th: President Donald Trump, in a televised meeting at the White House says: “It’s going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.”On February 28, Lithuania and Wales reported their first coronavirus cases, with Netherlands and Georgia reporting their secondFebruary 28th: During a rally in South Carolina, Trump alleges Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus, calling it “their new hoax.”February 29 saw South Korea report its highest daily number of confirmed cases yet, 813, bringing the country's total to 3,150 with 17 deaths. Iran also reported the number of its cases had jumped 388 cases to 593 in 24 hours, with the death toll reaching 43.Meanwhile, Qatar confirmed the first case in the country.February 29th: While speaking at the CPAC - Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump again claims his administration has the coronavirus under control:“I’ve gotten to know these professionals. They’re incredible,” Trump said. “And everything is under control. I mean, they’re very, very cool. They’ve done it, and they’ve done it well. Everything is really under control.”For nearly three months from January to early March - Pro-Trump news media, esp. Fox News had been downplaying the virus. They ignored the WHO warnings, kept on repeating that the virus is a Democrat hoax, just a flu and nothing to worry about during this period. They also ignored the warnings from China that it is a deadly virus and the fact that China was in lock down by the end of January. By mid to late March they were accusing China of a coverup. 60 Minutes did an “expose” on China claiming of a massive coverup. This will lead to a rise in xenophobia and racist attitudes towards China.March 2, 2020. Andrew Cuomo, Governor of NY State says, “Excuse our arrogance as New Yorkers — I speak for the mayor also on this one — we think we have the best health care system on the planet right here in New York. So, when you’re saying, what happened in other countries versus what happened here, we don’t even think it’s going to be as bad as it was in other countries. Andrew Cuomo, Governor New York State.Cuomo would come to regret his confident words by the next month when the death rate in NY increased exponentially a few weeks later.March 2, Saudi Arabia's health ministry announced its first coronavirus case. The victim travelled from Iran to the Gulf kingdom through Bahrain, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported.Tunisia and Jordan also reported their first cases as the outbreak continues to spread in the Middle East.March 3, Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, "Our country remains extremely well prepared. We already have a fantastic NHS," the national public health service, "fantastic testing systems and fantastic surveillance of the spread of disease." Johnson later shook hands with Covid-19 patients at a hospitalOn March 3, Italy announced the death toll in the country reached 77, equalling the total deaths in Iran, which stand at 77.March 4th: In a live interview with FoxNews Sean Hannity, Trump calls the WHO’s estimate of the global death rate “false,” describes the coronavirus as “very mild,” and suggests that those infected can get better by “sitting around” and “going to work.”Trump spoke on live air to Hannity regardiing WHO statement that coronavirus death rate is 3.4%:Trump said, "I think the 3.4% number is really a false number. Now this is just my hunch, but based on a lot of conversations ... personally, I'd say the number is way under 1%."March 5Fox News journalist Sean Hannity said, “Since the beginning, all they’ve (Democrats) done is use the virus, politicize the virus to bludgeon President Trump… All the same people who have done the same thing for three straight years. ... Russia, Russia. Ukraine, Ukraine. And impeach, impeach. Now, corona, corona.”Even in early March, US media such as Fox News continue to downplay the seriousness of the Covid-19 virus and claim that opponents of President Trump were using it to attack him unfairly.March 6: Trump visits US CDC and says:Well, we’re prepared for anything. We’re prepared. We are, really, very highly prepared for anything. And in a short period of time — I mean, what they’ve done is very incredible. And I’ve seen what they’ve done back there. It’s really incredible. And, by the way, NIH, what they’ve done — I spent time over there — and I like this stuff.You know, my uncle was a great person. He was at MIT. He taught at MIT for, I think, like a record number of years. He was a great super genius. Dr. John Trump.I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it. Every one of these doctors said, “How do you know so much about this?” Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for President.But you know what? What they’ve done is very incredible. I understand that whole world. I love that world. I really do. I love that world. And they should be given tremendous credit. And the whole world is relying on us.You know, you hear about — like you’re saying about South Korea. South Korea is very much reliant on the information we’re giving them. And they’re reliant on the vaccines that we will come up with. Very soon, we’re going to come up. …Trump also took the time to take out his frustrations on a State Governor.So I told Mike not to be complimentary to the governor because that governor is a snake. Okay? Inslee. And I said, “If you’re nice to him, he’s — he will take advantage.” And I would have said “no.”Let me just tell you, we have a lot of problems with the governor and — the governor of Washington. That’s where you have many of your problems. Okay? So Mike may be happy with him, but I’m not. Okay?And he would say that naturally. And as I said last night at the town hall, if we came up with a cure today, and tomorrow everything is gone, and you went up to this governor — who is a, you know, not a good governor, by the way — if you went up to this governor, and you said to him, “How did Trump do?” –he’d say, “He did a terrible job.” It makes no difference. If we came up with it right now, and tomorrow everything ended, at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning — everything ended — he would say, “Trump did a horrible job.” Okay?Meanwhile, South Korea developed its own test kit and has tested more than 270,000 people, which amounts to more than 5200 tests per million inhabitants—more than any other country... The United States has so far carried out 74 tests per 1 million inhabitants, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.On March 7, the coronavirus had killed nearly 3,500 people and infected another 102,000 people across more than 90 countries.China's Health Commission reported 99 new cases, down from 143 cases the day before, with a total of 80,651 cases nationwide. Official data, meanwhile, showed China's exports plunging 17.2 percent in the first two months of the year after the outbreak brought much of the country to a halt.In Iran, one of the worst-hit countries with 4,747 reported cases and 124 deaths, recently-elected MP Fatemeh Rahbar died from the coronavirus.President Trump, March 7th: “No, I’m not concerned at all,” Trump said from Mar-a-Lago. “No, I’m not. No, we’ve done a great job.”On March 8, Saudi authorities locked down the eastern Qatif region in a bid to contain the fast-spreading virus. Riyadh also said it was suspending all schools and universities across the country from Monday until further notice.March 8 In Italy, the government imposed a strict quarantine in the state of Lombardy and 14 other areas in the north, affecting a total of 16 million people. The decree imposing a lockdown for more than a quarter of Italy’s population was officially approved. Checkpoints are expected to appear at toll booths, stations and other points of entry to Lombardy. The number of deaths from coronavirus in Italy has risen from 233 on Saturday to 366, officials have said. The 57% increase is the steepest daily rise in fatalities since the outbreak came to light.The UK has announced its third death from the virus. He was a man in his 60s who had underlying health problems. Five more people have tested positive in Northern Ireland, bringing the UK total to 278. The UK Department of Health is now advising anyone who has returned from the lockdown areas in northern Italy to self-isolate for two weeks, even if they do not have coronavirus symptoms.Deaths from coronavirus in France rise from 11 to 19. French health officials have confirmed 1,126 cases of coronavirus.Israel declared on Sunday that it will close its border with Egypt, beginning 5pm local time. The Taba border crossing between Egypt’s Sinai region and the Israeli town of Eilat is a popular crossing point for tourists.Source: Guardian Newspaper March 8 - 9, 2020.On March 9, Iran released about 70,000 prisoners because of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, Iranian judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi said, without specifying if or when those released would need to return to jail.Germany reported its first two deaths, with at least 1,100 confirmed cases in the country.March 9th: Trump criticises Democrats for sounding the alarm “far beyond what the facts would warrant” before implying that the common flu is far worse, an argument he’s made on several occasions and which has been parroted by Fox News.Trump tweeted:The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant. Surgeon General, “The risk is low to the average American.”andSo last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!over 295,000 people liked his statement.March 10, Both Iran and Italy recorded their highest death tolls in a single day. A total of 54 people died in Iran over a 24-hour period, while in Italy, 168 new fatalities were recorded from the coronavirus.Lebanon and Morocco reported their first deaths from the virus, while Democratic Republic of the Congo, Panama and Mongolia confirmed their first cases of infection.March 11, WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, as Turkey, Ivory Coast, Honduras and Bolivia confirmed their first cases.In Qatar, infections jumped drastically from 24 to 262 in a single day.March 12, the global death toll surpassed 4,600 with infections exceeding 126,100 cases. China reported 15 new cases, its lowest number since the daily reporting on infections began seven weeks ago.March 13 Trump takes no responsibility at all for lack of tests in America.Asked Friday at his press conference by NBC News' Kristen Welker whether he should take responsibility for the failure to disseminate larger quantities of tests earlier, Trump declined. "I don't take responsibility at all," he said.March The Australian government entered a contract to buy 500,000 Covid-19 test kits from a company headed by a convicted rapist, which had no experience in medical diagnostics, failed to deliver shipments at a critical point in the pandemic. In March, a small, largely unknown Brisbane company, Promedical Equipment Pty Ltd, told the Australian government it could supply huge quantities of Covid-19 rapid antibody testing kits. Promedical’s chief executive, Neran De Silva was convicted of rape in 2018 and was a one-time business associate of the government services minister, Stuart Robert, through a cryotherapy treatment business. Promedical’s two shares were purchased for $2 by De Silva’s partner. Before the pandemic it sold cryogenic, massage therapy and erectile dysfunction machines.On March 15, Spain reported about 2,000 new coronavirus cases and more than 100 deaths over the last 24 hours. The new figures raise Spain's COVID-19 death toll to 288, with more than 7,700 people infected.Kazakhstan, the Phillipines and Austria announced tightened restrictions in a bid to contain the virus outbreak.March 16, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered the city's bars, theatres and cinemas to close down, as the number of cases continued to rise in the US.On the same day, more cases were reported in Turkey and Pakistan, while Iran registered a total of 14,991 infections and 853 deaths.The Gulf region marked its first death due to coronavirus in Bahrain.In Africa, Somalia confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus.Two South American countries, Chile and Guatemala, announced they had closed their borders as part of measures aimed at containing the virus.On March 17, Italy reported 345 new coronavirus deaths in the country over the past 24 hours taking its total death toll to 2,503 - an increase of 16 percent. The total number of cases in Italy rose to 31,506 from a previous 27,980, up 12.6 percent - the slowest rate of increase since the contagion came to light on February 21.Turkey, meanwhile, reported its first death related to the pandemic, an 89-year-old person.On March 18, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared for the first time ever a "human biosecurity emergency" in the country.Morrison said the travel advisory had been upgraded to the highest level and told Australians: "Do not travel abroad, do not go overseas."Italy, meanwhile, recorded 475 new deaths, the highest one-day toll of any nation, taking its total to 2,978. The total number of infections in the country reached 35,713.For the first time since the start of the epidemic, no new domestic cases were reported in China.On March 19, Italy overtook China as the country with the most coronavirus-related deaths, registering 3,405 dead compared to 3,245 in China.The death toll in Spain soared by 209 to 767 fatalities from the previous day. A roughly 25 percent increase in infections was recorded, taking the country's total to 17,147.March 19: Australia NSW Health allowed passengers from the Ruby Princess to disembark in Sydney despite knowing that test results would be available within hours. The ship's senior doctor had emailed the NSW authorities regarding his concern that some of the passengers had COVID19 symptom -15 samples taken from sick passengers were being tested for COVID-19 and the results would be known on the same day as its March 19 arrival. But the NSW State decided the passengers were low risk and let them all disemark. NSW Health later claims that its Expert Panel declared that the passengers posed little risk.SkyNews Media in Australia switch from calling the pandemic “hysteria” to a “China coverup”.March 19: US politician, Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, “China is to blame, because the culture where people eat bats and snakes and dogs and things like that,” in a recent videotaped interview, defending Trump’s label. “These viruses are transmitted from the animal to the people, and that’s why China has been the source of a lot of these viruses, like sars, like mers, the swine flu.”(The Senator erroneously blamed China. SARS came from Hong Kong, MERS - also known as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome came from the Middle East, and Swine Flu H1N1 came from the North American continent)On March 20, coronavirus-related deaths surged past 10,000 globally. The number of cases in Germany rose by 2,958 overnight to 13,957. Spain, meanwhile, said the death toll due to COVID-19 had risen to 1,002.In China, however, no new domestic cases were reported for a second consecutive day even as concerns remained about infected people flying into the country and importing a second wave of the disease.On March 21, Europe remains the epicentre of the coronavirus with Italy reporting 793 new fatalities, its biggest daily increase, bringing the total number of deaths to 4,825 amid 53,578 cases.Spain is the second worst-hit country in Europe with more than 21,000 infections and at least 1,000 deaths.To help each European country to contain the pandemic, the EU has taken the unprecedented step to suspend rules on public deficits, giving countries free rein to inject spending into the economy as needed.Meanwhile, the first two fatalities have been reported in Singapore.On March 22, the global death toll rose above 13,000 while the infection count surpassed 311,000. Governments around the world continued to lock down their countries, with the latest curfew coming into effect in India. The besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza registered its first two coronavirus cases.On March 23, Italy reported 602 new deaths, bringing the total to 6,077 with the tally of cases in the country rising to 63,928. Meanwhile, in the US, the number of cases surged past 35,000, with a death toll of 495, according to John Hopkins University data.March 23 Trump defends his use of the term “China virus” or “Chinese virus” instead of calling it corona virus or Covid-19."It would have been helpful if we knew about it earlier. … It comes from China."On March 24, Spain reported 6,600 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections to 39,673, while fatalities rose to 2,696 from 2,182 the previous day.Laos recorded its first two coronavirus cases.On March 25, the White House and Senate leaders of both parties struck an agreement on a sweeping $2 trillion measure to aid workers, businesses and a healthcare system strained by the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak.Meanwhile, India's 1.3 billion people joined the global lockdown, and Spain recorded more than 700 deaths over the previous 24 hours, surpassing China in the total death toll, making the country now second to only Italy.On March 26, the total number of coronavirus cases globally surpassed 500,000.Cases in Europe topped 250,000 - more than half of which were in Spain and hard-hit Italy. Spain recorded 655 new fatalities over 24 hours, while Italy's death toll rose by 712 to hit 8,215.Kenya, Kazakhstan and Honduras all reported their first deaths.On March 27, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus."Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus," Johnson said in a video posted on Twitter. "I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government's response via video-conference as we fight this virus."In Spain, meanwhile, the death toll rose to 4,858 after 769 people died over 24 hours, while South Africa recorded its first two deaths as a three-week nationwide lockdown came into force.On March 28, the number of cases worldwide surpassed 600,000, with more than 27,000 deaths.Spain's death toll meanwhile jumped to 5,690, with 832 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the country's health ministry. In the US, the number of people infected with the virus hit more than 104,000, while deaths exceeded 1,700.Italy's death toll from the virus also shot past 10,000 with 889 new deaths, according to the country's civil protection service.On March 29, the US accounted for the highest number of coronavirus infections in the world, recording more than 124,000 cases. The death toll in the country surged past 2,000, more than double the figure two days ago.Spain's health ministry announced 838 new coronavirus deaths, marking the country's highest daily jump in fatalities and bringing its total to 6,528.On March 30 US President Donald Trump extended federal guidelines on social distancing until April 30 after a top health official warned between 100,000 to 200,000 people could die from coronavirus in the US.Trump also tweeted:“President Trump is a ratings hit. Since reviving the daily White House briefing Mr. Trump and his coronavirus updates have attracted an average audience of 8.5 million on cable news, roughly the viewership of the season finale of ‘The Bachelor.’ Numbers are continuing to rise...Meanwhile, France announced it would pay for hotel rooms for victims of domestic violence and open pop-up counselling centres after figures showed the number of abuse cases had soared during the first week of the lockdown.On March 31 the number of deaths in the US from coronavirus surpassed those reported by China, where the pandemic began in December, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.There have been more than 3,600 deaths in the US from the virus, the Baltimore-based university reported, more than the 3,309 in China.In the hardest-hit countries in Europe, Italy reported the slowest daily rise in infections for two weeks, although the number of dead rose by 812. In Spain, an additional 800 deaths were reported.On April 1, the United Nations chief has warned the coronavirus pandemic presents the world with its "worst crisis" since World War II, with almost 922,000 people around the world having been diagnosed with the virus.The US death toll passing 4,300 as Spain, the United Kingdom and France reported their largest single-day increase in deaths to date.Meanwhile, China is due to release data showing the number of asyptomatic cases, data not previously released publicly.On April 2, Russia's coronavirus case tally jumped to 3,548 , a record daily increase of 771, according to Russia's crisis response centre.April 23, "(President Trump) He is so attentive to the scientific literature & the details & the data. I think his ability to analyze & integrate data that comes out of his long history in business has really been a real benefit” Dr. Deborah Birx, American physican and diplomat who specialises in HIV/AIDS, vaccine, and global health. She is currently the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, for Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force.Source:Guardian Newspaper: China confirms human-to-human transmission of coronavirus January Guardian 20th 2020.ABC, ABCTV, BBC, CNN, CNBC, Guardian, Al Jeezera, China’s People Daily, Foxnews, South China Post, Twitter, TheHill, Wallstjournal, New York Times, MotherJones, RollingStone magazineCoronavirus: Why You Must Act Now -Trump’s “Chinese Virus” and What’s at Stake in the Coronavirus’s Name New Yorker, March 25, 2020NSW Health allowed cruise ship passengers to disembark despite test results pending, Sydney Morning Herald, April 3, 2020Fact-check: Is Chinese culture to blame for the coronavirus? Statesman, March 26, 2020A Cascade of Warnings Unheeded, New York Times March 19. 200

They only had real allies after the Second World War, prior to that what they mostly had were opportunistic marriages of convenience.It should be remembered that next to industrialisation and collectivisation, the centrepiece to Joseph Stalin’s agenda (and major disagreement with Leon Trotsky) was the idea of Socialism in One Country. This was the notion that the USSR was too weak to export the Revolution (they failed to conquer Poland during the early 20s for example) and should therefore focus its energies on modernisation, development and building “socialism”.Examples of these marriages of convenience:Germany -For example, the USSR and the Weimar Republic (Germany’s democratic, post-WWI government) collaborated in order to undermine the international order. Germany wanted to overcome restrictions on its military, while the USSR wanted to both modernise and gain an advanced trading partner. This partly secretive partnership reached its climax under German Chancellor Gustav Stresseman but later collapsed for obvious reasons after the Nazis came to power in 1933.Hitler unsurprisingly outlawed the German Communist Party (DKP) and sent communists to the concentration camps before turning on other opponents, Nazi propaganda often violently attacked communism and the USSR (portraying it as a Jewish-led conspiracy to take over the world and destroy Christianity, Judeo-Bolshevism was a popular Nazi slogan); Hitler had advocated invading, destroying and colonising the USSR in Mein Kampf (a dream he never abandoned); and the Germans even formed an Anti-Comintern Pact to oppose Soviet foreign policy objectives. Also, the Soviets and Nazis were backing different horses in the Spanish Civil War.Nazi anti-Soviet propagandaHowever, with Appeasement having failed and half-hearted British and French attempts to forge an anti-Nazi alliance with the Soviets floundering, the Nazis offered Stalin a seemingly better deal and he took it. The two regimes signed a ten-year non-aggression pact, with secret clauses dividing Eastern Europe between them. Neither viewed it as a permanent or longterm alliance, but Stalin thought that he had considerably more time (he wrongly believed that Hitler thought the way he did, careful and methodic). During this period, Soviet anti-Nazi propaganda and German anti-Communist propaganda ceased and trade between the two countries re-ignited (ironically, the USSR fed the same war machine that would cause them immeasurable suffering and pain two years later). Nazi-Soviet collaboration reached its pinnacle during their join invasion of Poland in 1939; they even held a joint parade. Later the Nazis tried to convince the Soviets to look southward and invade British India (probably in an effort to further weaken Britain and distract the USSR), but the Soviets didn’t bite.German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop meets with Joseph Stalin in the Kremlin. There was even talk for a while of Hitler meeting Stalin, albeit this was probably a Nazi ruse to further lower the USSR’s guard.The Red Army and Werhmacht socialise after destroying Poland togetherOf course, the rest is history. Hitler betrayed his pact with Stalin after only two years, despite not having defeated Britain; Operation Barbarossa was the largest and most destructive ground invasion in world history to date but it failed to capture Moscow or Leningrad or largely destroy the Red Army; the Nazis didn’t prepare for Russian winter (they expected a quick victory), and they also under-estimated the fighting resolve of the locals (if you brutalise people they fight back, who figured?), the overall size and competence of the Red Army, and the regime’s stability. Apparently, racist cliches about Slavic peoples also coloured Nazi assumptions. In the end over twenty million Soviet citizens died, but the USSR was victorious. There is an argument that Hitler’s invasion was doomed from the start but I won’t get into that.If you want a laugh, I encourage readers to look into the awkward convulsions various communist parties went through during this period. First, they hated the Nazis and urged the working classes to resist fascism, later they portrayed WW2 as an act of imperialist aggression with Germany as the victim, and finally they became even more hawkish that Churchill or Roosevelt and urged everything for the war effort.The Chinese Nationalists (Kuomintang or Guomindong, officially the Republic of China)Originally, a progressive, quasi-socialist nationalist-republican movement aimed at unifying China under a progressive, modernising government, the KMT quickly found an ally in the USSR. Stalin viewed the Chinese Communist Party as being too weak and incompetently led to be of much value, and instead saw potential in the Nationalists. However, following the death of their founding leader Dr Sun Yet San and the rise of Generalissimo Chaing Kai Shek, the KMT swerved to the Right and adopted a staunchly anti-communist and at times pseudo-fascist character.In 1927 before launching his Northern Campaign, Chaing’s forces turned on their erstwhile allies (the Chinese Communists) and massacred them by the tens of thousands in Nanjing. This betrayal sparked the Chinese Civil War and the beginnings of the Chinese Red Army (later People’s Liberation Army). However, the USSR was generally cool towards their Chinese comrades. Stalin underestimated their eventual leader Mao Zedong. More on that relationship later.MongoliaThis was the only real ally the USSR had at the time. The world’s second ever communist regime (minus the short-lived experiment in Hungary), from 1924 until 1991 Mongolia was a Soviet proxy of questionable strategic value.SpainIn 1936 Spain’s new democracy was in crisis, as the newly elected left-wing Popular Front (a coalition of democratic socialists, liberals, progressives and communists - in which the communists were the minority) faced a rebellion by anti-democratic, reactionary elements of the Spanish Army (particularly in the colony of Morocco). Led by Generals Mola, Yague and Franco (later Francisco Franco became the unquestioned leader), the Nationalists would eventually adopt a fascist identity and successfully seek assistance from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The German Luftwaffe (particularly the airlift out of Morocco), 70 thousand Italian combat troops, Italian naval intervention and generous credit from Western corporate backers gave the Nationalists a decided advantage.Stalin decided to help the Republicans (the backers of Spain’s Popular Front), but only to a point and with heavy strings attached. The Spanish Republic was forced to pay high prices for material aid (even cash the crown jewels), and Stalin used his influence to strengthen the position of the once marginal Spanish Communist Party (PCE) and to purge both the Trotskyite and Anarchist factions. It has been argued before that Stalin didn’t necessarily care if the Republicans won the war, what he really wanted was to keep Germany busy and distracted. Maybe. The USSR’s Comintern (Communist International) also organised the International Brigades, 40 thousand volunteers from across the world (mostly Western countries). They were largely, but not exclusively, communist, but many were motivated by anti-fascism rather than communism. These volunteers fought bravely, but it’s been argued that their military inexperience and lack of professional competence from Comintern officers marred their value. They did play an important role during the Ebro Offensive.Nearly two thousand Canadians from the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion fought in Spain. There are of course many other international volunteer units (the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Brigades from the United States, the British Brigade, Durruti Column of anti-fascist Italian exiles, etc).That’s about it before WW2. The USSR briefly had a friend in Hungary, the Hungarian Soviet Republic led by Bela Kun but it collapsed within a year (1919–1920). There was a self-proclaimed Chinese Soviet Republic. It started in Jiangxi Province in 1931, but was forced to move northwards in 1934 with the Long March. It was dissolved in 1937 when the Communists and Chinese Nationalists formed a new alliance, United Front, against the Japanese. While this regime did perform the functions of government, it was never recognised diplomatically (not even by the USSR).Post-WW2The Soviet Union has industrialised and with a large and powerful army is ready to expand its powerWarsaw PactFor the most part these were regimes established by the Red Army after they pushed the German invaders out of the USSR and began conquering/liberating Eastern Europe. In each of the countries (minus Yugoslavia and Albania, we’ll get to them later) the Soviets placed local communists in charge. At first you had leaders like Gheorghu Dej in Romania or Walter Ubricht in East Germany, who were basically pawns of Moscow, but eventually they were replaced by a new generation of more independently minded Eastern European communists (Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania and Stanislaw Gomulka of Poland).Stalin mostly valued these puppet states because they offered him a buffer against Western Europe, thus strategic security, albeit the Soviets did attempt to push these countries to emulate their policies (collectivisation, a police state, welfare, etc). This new generation of post-Stalinist, more openly minded communist leaders during the 1960s led to some serious frays in the alliance. The first spot of trouble was in Hungary in 1956 when the neutrality of local communists and later an anti-communist insurgency prompted a brutal invasion by the Red Army that killed thousands and likewise a similar scenario unfolded in Czechoslovakia in 1967 (albeit fewer people were killed).Romania’s new leader, Ceausescu, originally a liberal-minded reformer who later began to emulate Chinese leader Mao Zedong, opposed the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, correctly viewing it as a precedent which threatened his own regime and froze Romanian participation in the Pact. The USSR opted not to invade Romania and from here on out Romania became a Warsaw Pact member in name only (the Romanians even backed anti-communist forces against Soviet allies in the developing world). Its regime also adopted a more nationalistic ideology. Likewise, Poland became increasingly independently minded after rate 60s but not to the same extent as Romania (the Soviets were extremely fearful of losing Poland, as the entire alliance would’ve unravelled).Despite Western perceptions that the Eastern Pact were all Soviet colonies or puppets, this was only half true and then only to a point. Even more Soviet-influenced regimes such as East Germany could at times exercise greater independence than assumed.Of these allies - Poland was probably the most valuable, while East Germany was likely the most reliable.YugoslaviaYugoslavia was never really a member of the Eastern Pact per se, as its communist leaders came to power through an indigenous guerrilla war against the occupying Nazis and their Croatian fascist allies with only minimal Soviet assistance. Josip Broz Tito had more in common with Fidel Castro or Ho Chi Minh than Walter Ubricht.Initially, his Federal Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia was anti-Western and extremely pro-Soviet, but as Tito began to contemplate domestic reforms (namely economic liberalisation and decentralisation) it put him into direct conflict with Stalin who believed that he could dictate the domestic policies of his communist allies. This led to a rupture in the Cominform (Communist Information Bureau, the Comintern’s successor) and the eventual expulsion of Yugoslavia’s ruling communist party. The USSR and its Warsaw Pact allies (including Albania) all broke off diplomatic ties with Yugoslavia, forcing it to seek accommodation with the West. Stalin also seriously considered invading Yugoslavia but may have been discouraged from this course of action by US intervention in Korea. He also repeatedly tried to assassinate Tito (apparently, an angry Tito sent him a letter threatening to send assassins after him if he didn’t cut it out).Afterwards, Yugoslavia and the USSR were at first hostile enemies and later ambivalent towards each other.AlbaniaAlbania’s communists also came to power largely on their own accord and were thus comprised primarily of former guerrillas who fought the Nazis rather than apparatchiks who spent the War in a Moscow exile. However, unlike Tito, their leader Enver Hoxha wasn’t a nationalist but a hardline, almost fanatical, communist.At first, Albania was allied with the USSR and Yugoslavia, and briefly even discussed the idea of joining Yugoslavia; however, when Yugoslavia and the USSR broke off ties, Albania sided with Moscow 100%. After the death of Joseph Stalin and liberalisation of the USSR, Albania broke off ties with Moscow and became an ally of the People’s Republic of China. Curiously, Hoxha began to emulate Maoism in some ways. This alliance led to a curious state of affairs in which Chinese submarines periodically showed up in the Mediterranean and Adriatic.Following the death of Chairman Mao and liberalisation of China, the Albanians broke off ties with them and remained a complete pariah state, like North Korea but without the nukes, until Hoxha died in 1985.CubaOne of the USSR’s most important allies was a tiny Caribbean island of only ten million people (90 miles from the US coastline).Cuba proved to be one of the USSR’s most valuable and at times most costly allies. The Soviets spent a fortune subsidising the Cuban economy (cheap oil, commodities and weapons, in addition to high prices for Cuban cash crops since Castro opted against industrialisation), but at the same time they had an ace up their sleeve - an activist communist regime on America’s doorstop, which the Americans couldn’t invade lest they start WWIII, and could cause a whole lot of trouble for the Americans in their perceived backyard (Latin America). Albeit, this strategic ace nearly caused the destruction of the world in 1962.Despite US misconceptions, Castro was actually a lot more independent of the USSR than superficially appeared obvious. For example with Angola, Castro sent thousands of combat troops and artillery pieces to prop up the communist MPLA against an onslaught by Angolan rivals, the South Africans and Zairians against Soviet wishes (the Americans thought that Moscow put them up to it, but the Soviets were actually furious - Castro’s adventure had endangered Detente and the Kremlin wasn’t particularly fond of the MPLA’s leadership). This was more about Castro carving out his own sphere of influence. It wasn’t just in Angola, Cuban forces also intervened in Ethiopia against the Somalis (albeit the Soviets were probably more supportive), while Che Guevara (increasingly enamoured with Maoism) launched ill-fated adventures (in the Congo and Bolivia). The Cubans also provided arms and training to a whole whack of Marxist guerrilla groups in Latin America, mostly inspired by the Cuban Revolution, who were fighting US-backed dictatorships (the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, FMLN in El Salvador, FARC in Colombia, URNG in Guatemala and others).Cuba was an expensive and independently minded, but at times useful ally.ChinaAs alluded to earlier, the Soviets were hesitant to commit to backing their Chinese comrades (at first they preferred an alliance with the KMT and Stalin later grew suspicious of Mao’s broader ambitions in Asia). However, the Communists triumphed over the KMT, partly with Soviet assistance in Manchuria, but also thanks to their own leadership and KMT incompetence, and the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949.This was a shock to the US system. On paper, the Communist Empire now extended from Shanghai to Berlin! It really was viewed as a monolithic empire, controlled by Moscow, but now we know that this was nonsense. There was never a communist monolith, and even though the Soviets and Chinese were initially allies, with a cooperation treaty, they didn’t trust each other. Following the death of Stalin, Khrushchev’s Secret Speech and de-Stalinisation in the USSR Sino-Soviet relations quietly soured, albeit the outside world had no clue.Mao was bitter that the Soviets were denouncing a regime whose policies were very similar to his own and was opposed to Khrushchev’s policy of longterm co-existence with the West. Finally, during the 1960s this feud became public as the Chinese and Soviets fought a brief border conflict along the Manchurian border, the Soviets contemplating nuking China (Mao’s nukes freaked them out), and the Chinese began backing a plethora of anti-communist forces around the world. Things came to ahead when Nixon visited China and met Mao in 1972. As with Yugoslavia, the USSR and China were only briefly real allies (particularly during the Korean War).Mao reportedly wanted his own sphere of influence in Asia, which Stalin didn’t like, whereas Khrushchev thought Mao to be too recklessVietnamMoscow long enjoyed a close relationship with Hanoi. Stalin wasn’t interested in backing the Vietminh’s August Revolution in 1945; however, Khrushchev appreciated that decolonisation offered the USSR unprecedented opportunity to weaken the West and spread its own influence. Eventually, the USSR and China both became major sponsors of North Vietnam; however, the North Vietnamese were correctly suspicious of Chinese motivations.In the end, Vietnam was unified under communist rule, but a war between the Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge of neighbouring Cambodia led to a brief but bloody Chinese invasion of Vietnam. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam was from here on out firmly in the Soviet camp.North KoreaThe so-called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which today is no longer a communist regime, was a fair weather friend to both Moscow and Beijing. Despite owing its existence to the USSR and its survival to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the North Koreans took advantage of the Sino-Soviet Split to play both sides off against one another (like a bratty child in a divorce).AngolaAs mentioned earlier, the Soviets were suspicious of Angola’s communist leaders and even attempted to back a coup against them; however, Cuban intervention forced the USSR’s hand and to avoid losing face they began to sponsor the People’s Republic of Angola during the first half of its brutal and wrenching civil war (1975–1992)MozambiqueThis regime was actually neutral and liked to view itself as a non-aligned country (akin to Yugoslavia or India); however, it did enjoy a good working relationship with the USSR.EthiopiaBy far the most important Soviet ally in Africa by the 70s (by this point, Egypt had broken with the USSR, more on that later). Ethiopia came under communist rule in 1974 with a coup against Emperor Haile Selassie, and its new leader Miriam Mengistu pursued collectivisation policies and a Red Terror that were straight out of the Stalinist handbook. In fact, it has been argued that Ethiopia with its history of feudalism, state church, absolute monarchy and lack of colonisation had more in common with Tsarist Russia than other African countries (ex-colonies) that experimented with Marxism-Leninism, maybe…When invaded by neighbouring Somalia, also led by a communist regime, over the Ogaden Territory, Cuba came to the rescue. The USSR also provided monetary and military aid to this embattled regime, which soon faced a civil war from various disaffected elements. Ethiopia’s importance was probably due to its size. If Mengistu could stabilise the country, it could have dominated East Africa. However, eventually Mengistu’s forces lost to the rebels and he was forced to flee to Zimbabwe. He lives there today and has been sentenced to death in abstentia should he ever return home.The Arab WorldAt first, the USSR recognised Israel as an independent country, probably because A the Soviets had just helped defeat Nazi Germany, B the Zionists mostly had leftist and socialist ideological world outlooks, C the new State of Israel was pretty socialistic at first, and D many Soviets citizens were themselves Jewish.However, this initial honeymoon quickly died due to a plethora of reasons. Within the USSR Stalin became suspicious of zionism (he didn’t like any form of nationalism that could threaten Soviet unity, look at Ukraine for example) and thus concocted an anti-Semitic Doctor’s Plot before his death, also the closeness of Israel to the United States also probably rose Soviet suspicions.Meanwhile, Israel’s Arab neighbours resented losing to Israel in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees despised the new state, and during the 50s certain conservative, pro-Western monarchies were replacing by radical nationalist regimes with avowedly socialist agendas. In particular, Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser became a very important Soviet ally, despite not being a communist regime and technically a member of the Non-Aligned Movement (the club of neutral nations). The Soviets were particularly generous with military aid and credit. Also, Syria’s new ruling Ba’ath Party (ba’ath means renewal) had a socialist identity and formed a long lasting alliance with Moscow (which endured to this day). In 1969, Moscow gained a very strong ally in the form of Muammar al Gaddafi, whose sparsely populated but oil rich country, became a major thorn in America’s backside. However, like Castro, possibly more so, Gaddafi was nobody’s puppet and had his own agenda that didn’t always compliment Moscow’s.The USSR also generously sponsored the leftist and secular, Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).Egypt and the USSR had a very close relationship under Nasser, but under his successor Anwar al Sadat, the Egyptians quite literally switched sides and became a US allyIraqi President Saddam Hussein also became an important partner for the USSR. He too was a modernising, somewhat progressively minded, Arab nationalist (and genocidal butcher), who moved Iraq’s economic relationship towards the USSR. He also armed his military with Soviet and French hardware. The Americans would of course help Saddam during his war with Iran, but he was always closer with the USSR.Miscellaneous - not allies per se, but governments and regimes with which the USSR enjoyed friendly ties - India (ostensibly neutral in the Cold War), Finland (played a smart game of getting close to the country that posed the greatest threat to their independence), Algeria, Nicaragua (under the Sandinistas), Chile (under Allende), Mexico, Tanzania (under Julius Neryerye), and others.