NEW DELHI, Dec. 12 — Indian troops in East Pakistan resumed their advance on Dacca today and reached the little town of Narsingdi, 22 miles northeast of the capital, Indian spokesmen said.

A force of Indian paratroops dropped into East Pakistan yesterday afternoon may be even closer. Indian officials would not pinpoint the location of the drop, but in a communiqué issued in Calcutta the paratroop action was listed under a heading of “Dacca area.”

India hopes that Pakistani troops defending Dacca will surrender. But the Indian Army is clearly moving into position to assault the city's defenders if that proves necessary.

On Friday, the Indians achieved a bridgehead across the Meghna River, which is about 1,200 yards wide at that point, about 40 miles northeast of Dacca. They spent a day reinforcing the bridgehead, near the town of Bhairab Bazar.

Build‐up Is Completed

“On the completion of the build‐up at Bhairab Bazar, we resumed the advance toward Dacca on the afternoon of Dec. 11 and when reports came in this morning we had reached Narsingdi, 22 miles northeast of Dacca,” a military spokesman said in New Delhi.

He said the advance was “progressing.” A communiqué issued in eastern command headquarters in Calcutta called the advance “fast.”

The paratroop assault apparently was coordinated with the resumption of the advance yesterday. The air drop began at 4 P.M.

Indian spokesmen would not say how many paratroopers were used or just where they were landed, but it was believed to have been north of Dacca. The Indian Army has two brigades of paratroopers, or more than 5,000 men.

Foe Reported Repulsed

The Calcutta communiqué said that Pakistani soldiers had counterattacked the paratroops and had been “repulsed.” It said that an officer and 22 Pakistani soldiers had been killed and 12 captured.

Whether a bloody and prolonged battle for Dacca will develop seemed to depend largely on whether West Pakistani officials order their forces in the East to fight it out.

Indian officers say that in many of the outlying garrisons, in East Pakistan captured by India since the war began on Dec. 3 the Pakistani defenders fought stubbornly and fiercely.

The present conflict grows out of an original move by Bengali‐speaking citizens of East Pakistan for more autonomy. When West Pakistani authorities began using military force to repress the movement in March the movement grew into a rebellion aimed at full independence, with India supporting, the insurgents.

Since the war began, India has concentrated her main effort on overrunning East Pakistan. Indian and guerrilla forces have already taken large parts or the Eastern providence and only a few major towns still seem to be in Pakistani control.

The Pakistani Army has tried to regroup troops around Dacca and at other areas of concentration. But many units have been cut off, subdued or captured.

Indian forces today reached the outskirts of Khulna, in the southwestern part of East Pakistan, and a “heavy fight, is now on, Indian spokesmen said.

Many of the estimated 5,000 Pakistani defenders of Jessore retreated toward Khulna when Jessore fell. Because of the many waterways around Khulna, it is difficult for the Indians to maneuver and it will be necessary to take the cantonment head on, an informed Indian source said. He said a bitter fight might be in store.

Pakistani units are still holding out near Comila, Dinajpur, Rangpur and other towns. Pakistani forces at Chittagong and Cox's Bazar have not yet come under ground attack.

An Indian general in Calcutta said that during the seven‐day battle for Hilli, the troops put up extremely heavy resistance and that “each position had to be fought for, bunker to bunker. “At Kushtia the defenders fought desperately,” he said, and tried to break out several times.

Mrs. Gandhi at Rally

Meanwhile. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said In a speech at a public meeting ground here that “the powers giving military aid to Pakistan are not making it strong but are weakening it day by day.”

Without naming the United States, she seemed to criticize Washington strongly, saying, “These rich nations and votaries of democracy have weakened Pakistan by arming it to the teeth and by encouraging its governments to ignore the needs and aspirations of their poor masses.”

“If any harm comes to Pakistan, it is these countries who will be responsible for that,” she said.

Mrs. Gandhi, speaking in Hindi, said that India did not want to see the disintegration of Pakistan—but there was semantic twist to the remark. In Indian eyes. East Pakistan has already ceased to exist and is now Bangla Desh. In New Delhi today, Pakistan means West Pakistan.

On the Western front, the battlefield near Chhamb, about five miles within Indian territory in southern Kashmir, was quieter. For five days Pakistan had attempted to break through Indian defenses there with a large force. But no ground attack was made today, although there was shelling.

The Indian Air Force bombed Pakistani tank concentrations during the night and set off large fires, Indian spokesmen said.

India said she had lost two more planes and reported the destruction of three Pakistani aircraft on the Western front.

The Indian spokesman said that one small Indian frigate was lost in the Arabian Sea, the first ship lost by India in the war. He gave no details.