The revelation that Mrs Thatcher secretly authorised the SAS to provide planning advice to the government of Indira Gandhi, in relation to the military action at Amritsar, has shocked many British citizens of Indian origin.

We do not know the extent of the support nor the logic behind it but a wider reading of the files, recently released by the British government, shines some light on the nature of top level discussions at the time.

It appears to me that the Thatcher government wanted to sell military equipment to the Gandhi administration.

The authorisation for SAS support was made in February 1984. Two months before this, a file note from 10 Downing Street to the Ministry of Defence reports on a top level discussion about the provision of military equipment to India. Mr Venkataraman, the then Indian Defence Minister held a "friendly and relaxed" meeting with Mrs Thatcher in Downing Street. Mrs Thatcher was to meet Indira Gandhi later that month in Delhi at the Commonwealth Heads of State meeting.


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