New Delhi: With Prime Minister Indira Gandhi away in Simla for a brief holiday, it is assumed in New Delhi no immediate decisions are being taken on India's attitude to Bangla Desh following the formation of a provisional government there-though last week it was reported that emissaries from Bangla Desh had met Indian leaders, including some ministers, in Assam and urgently appealed for aid, including arms.

But India wants to make sure that recognition will really help the liberation fighters. It does not want to be the first or only country to grant recognition, as this would be interpreted in proIslamabad circles as proof of India's complicity in the East Bengalis' revolt. Mujib's men themselves seem willing to take some factors into account in looking over potential gift- horses; the first country to offer recognition and military aid was Israel - and in spite of their desperate straits, the government of Bangla Desh declined the offer, suggesting Islam retains some power if not enough to hold the old idea of an "Islamic state" together.

However India is pleased with some of the recent international reactions to what even American newspapers refer to as genocide in East Pakistan. United States Ambassador to India Kenneth Keating told the press that the United States cannot consider the happenings in East Pakistan as an internal affair of Pakistan. In the absence of any specific comment on the subject in Washington, Keating was perhaps directed to assuage Indian opinion. But there is conviction in New Delhi that no American arms are now being shipped to Pakistan and that Washington is giving serious thought to future commitments.

As the resistance forces in Bangla Desh were never organised for the kind of fire-power the Pakistan army has employed, nobody here is surprised that - the army has effective control of all the bigger cities in the east and of the military cantonments. New Delhi never expected the confrontation in Bangla Desh to be over with a couple of decisive battles. On the other hand those in touch with the liberation forces hope that, in the long run, the guerilla tactics of the Sheikh's men will wear down the troops who have a hostile population to contend with. Pakistan's impossible transport situation and the bogging down of operations in the monsoon about to break in the north-east will help the freedom fighters to resort to hit- and-run tactics and demoralise the entrenched troops.

Both Indian and foreign observers predict heavy strains on Pakistan's economy and rumblings of unrest even in the western wing are quite audible. And Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who is believed to have spurred the hawks in Islamabad to firm action, may himself be disillusioned soon, when he finds they have little further use for him.

Meanwhile India is doing everything possible to assist the refugees who are pouring into Assam and Tripura. Some 100,000 have already crossed over, a large number of them Moslems. Donations of cash and cloth, medicines and foodgrains have been pouring in. Mobile hospitals have been despatched to the border to look after the injured, and a number of voluntary organisations are busy setting up camps and reception centres for the homeless.