Paratroopers in Goa 1961
Even after the last British soldier had left India in 1947, the country was not entirely free from foreign rule. The French and the Portuguese still clung to their possessions. These were small bits of land— Pondicherry and Chandernagore in the case+
of France; Goa, Daman and Diu in the case of Portugal— but it was repugnant to Indian sentiment that foreign flags should fly over them. The French later decided to quit (Chandernagore in 1949 and Pondicherry in 1954), but not Portuguese.+
They were not even prepared to discuss the issue.
The people of Goa were keen to join free India. There was a good deal of agitation by them in form of satyagraha and civil disobedience. The Portuguese put it down with a heavy hand. Naturally, the rest of India could not remain+
a passive spectator of such happenings for long.
There were persistent rumours in 1961 regarding negotiations between Pakistan and Portugal for the establishment of a joint base in Goa. The fact that Pakistan was a military dictatorship in close alliance with certain members of+
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (N.A.T.O) gave credence to the idea. India’s relations with China being already strained, there was the danger that the country may have to fight more than one front if Goa remained a trouble spot.+
(Portugal was a member of N.A.T.O while Pakistan had joined similar alliances viz. S.E.A.T.O. and C.E.N.T.O. The U.S.A. and the U.K. were important members of all three organizations.)+
The situation deteriorated rapidly when in November 1961 the Portuguese became aggressive. Their troops stationed on Anjidiv Island fired on an Indian merchant ship on November 18, wounding an officer. A few days later, a fishing m boat was fired upon.+
At the same time, there were reports of Pakistani troops moving forward along our border in the Punjab. These developments forced the hands of the Indian government, and plans were made to meet the situation.+
Goa was reported to have about 4,500 Portuguese and Goan troops, supported by armoured cars and some artillery. The Indian plan, code-named 'Vijay', was for a force consisting of two brigades of 17th Infantry Division and 50th Independent Para Brigade to enter Goa on D-day in a+
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