Mary Frankel is presumably alluding to Tony Blair's recent peace-keeping visits

to India and Pakistan when expressing her hope that "They will come to help us out" in the event of war (Letters, January 14) History can't be her strong point.

In the First World War, India - which then included the present-day states of Pakistan and Bangladesh - contributed more than two million combatants and support staff. "It was the performance of India which took the world of surprise and thrilled every British heart," reported John Buchan, then writing his classic The Thirty-Nine Steps.

Although issues of forthcoming independence needed to be resolved, brave Indian troops were no less committed in the Second World War, tens of thousands suffering as Japanese prisoners-of-war.

As Shakespeare penned: "Freeze, freeze, though bitter sky, that dost not bite so nigh as benefits forgot: Though thou the waters warp, thy sting is not so sharp as friend remember'd not."

-William Fraser, Summerheath Road, Hailsham