Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Military confrontation between India and Pakistan alongside the Bangladesh Liberation War}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict         = Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
| conflict   = Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
| partof           = the [[Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts]] and [[Bangladesh Liberation War]]
| partof     = the [[Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts]] and [[Bangladesh Liberation War]]
| campaign         =  
| campaign   =  
| image             = 1971 Instrument of Surrender.jpg
| image       = 1971 Instrument of Surrender.jpg
| image_size       = 300px
| image_size = 350px
| caption           = {{small|First Row: [[Lieutenant-General|Lt-Gen.]] [[Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi|A.A.K. Niazi]], the Cdr. of [[Eastern Military Command of Pakistan|Pakistani Eastern Comnd.]], signing the [[Pakistani Instrument of Surrender|documented Instrument of Surrender]] in [[Dhaka|Dacca]] in the presence of [[Lieutenant General (India)|Lt. Gen.]] [[Jagjit Singh Aurora]] ([[General Officer Commanding-in-Chief|GOC-in-C]] of Indian [[Eastern Command (India)|Eastern Comnd.]]). Surojit Sen of [[All India Radio]] is seen holding a microphone on the right.<br />Second Row (left to right): [[Vice Admiral (India)|Vice Adm.]] [[Nilakanta Krishnan|N. Krishnan]] ([[Flag Officer Commanding|FOC-in-C]] [[Eastern Naval Command|Eastern Naval Comnd.]]), [[Air Marshal (India)|Air Mshl.]] [[Hari Chand Dewan|H.C. Dewan]], ([[Air Officer Commanding|AOC-in-C]] [[Eastern Air Command (India)|Eastern Air Comnd.]]), Lt Gen. [[Sagat Singh]] [[Rathore]] (Cdr. [[IV Corps (India)|IV Corps]]), Maj Gen. [[J. F. R. Jacob|JFR Jacob]] ([[Chief of Staff|COS]] Eastern Comnd.) and [[Flight lieutenant|Flt Lt]] Krishnamurthy (peering over Jacob‘s shoulder).}}
| caption     = {{small|First Row: [[Lieutenant-General|Lt-Gen.]] [[Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi|A.A.K. Niazi]], the Cdr. of [[Eastern Military Command of Pakistan|Pakistani Eastern Comnd.]], signing the [[Pakistani Instrument of Surrender|documented instrument]] in [[Dhaka|Dacca]] in the presence of [[Lieutenant General|Lt. Gen.]] [[Jagjit Singh Aurora]] ([[General Officer Commanding-in-Chief|GOC-in-C]] of Indian [[Eastern Command (India)|Eastern Comnd.]]). Surojit Sen of [[All India Radio]] is seen holding a microphone on the right.<br />Second Row (left to right): [[Vice Admiral|Vice Adm.]] [[Nilakanta Krishnan|N. Krishnan]] ([[Flag Officer Commanding|FOC-in-C]] [[Eastern Naval Command|Eastern Naval Comnd.]]), [[Air Marshal|Air Mshl.]] [[Hari Chand Dewan|H.C. Dewan]], ([[Air Officer Commanding|AOC-in-C]] [[Eastern Air Command (India)|Eastern Air Comnd.]], Lt Gen. [[Sagat Singh]] (Cdr. [[IV Corps (India)|IV Corps]]), Maj Gen. [[J. F. R. Jacob|JFR Jacob]] ([[Chief of Staff|COS]] Eastern Comnd.) and [[Flight lieutenant|Flt Lt]] Krishnamurthy (peering over Jacob‘s shoulder).}}
| date             = 3–16 December 1971 (13 days)
| date       = 3–16 December 1971 (13 days)
| place             = Eastern Front:
| place       = Eastern Front:
* [[India–East Pakistan border]]
* [[India–East Pakistan border]]
** [[Bay of Bengal]]
** [[Bay of Bengal]]
Line 22: Line 17:
* [[Indian Ocean]]
* [[Indian Ocean]]
** [[Arabian Sea]]
** [[Arabian Sea]]
| result           = '''Indo-Allied forces victory'''<ref name=Lyon>{{cite book|last=Lyon|first=Peter|title=Conflict between India and Pakistan: An Encyclopedia|url=https://archive.org/details/conflictbetweeni00lyon|url-access=limited|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-712-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/conflictbetweeni00lyon/page/n182 166]|quote=India's decisive victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war and emergence of independent Bangladesh dramatically transformed the power balance of South Asia}}</ref><ref name=Kemp>{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Geoffrey|title=The East Moves West India, China, and Asia's Growing Presence in the Middle East|url=https://archive.org/details/eastmoveswestind00kemp|url-access=limited|year=2010|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|isbn=978-0-8157-0388-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/eastmoveswestind00kemp/page/n60 52]|quote=However, India's decisive victory over Pakistan in 1971 led the Shah to pursue closer relations with India}}</ref><ref name=Byman>{{cite book|last=Byman|first=Daniel|title=Deadly connections: States that Sponsor Terrorism|url=https://archive.org/details/deadlyconnection00byma_576|url-access=limited|year=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-83973-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/deadlyconnection00byma_576/page/n170 159]|quote=India's decisive victory in 1971 led to the signing of the Simla Agreement in 1972}}</ref><br />Eastern front:<br /> [[Instrument of Surrender (1971)|Surrender of East Pakistan military command]]<br />Western front:<br />Unilateral ceasefire<ref name="glo" />
| result     = Decisive Indian victory<ref name=Lyon>{{cite book|last=Lyon|first=Peter|title=Conflict between India and Pakistan: An Encyclopedia|url=https://archive.org/details/conflictbetweeni00lyon|url-access=limited|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-712-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/conflictbetweeni00lyon/page/n182 166]|quote=India's decisive victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war and emergence of independent Bangladesh dramatically transformed the power balance of South Asia}}</ref><ref name=Kemp>{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Geoffrey|title=The East Moves West India, China, and Asia's Growing Presence in the Middle East|url=https://archive.org/details/eastmoveswestind00kemp|url-access=limited|year=2010|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|isbn=978-0-8157-0388-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/eastmoveswestind00kemp/page/n60 52]|quote=However, India's decisive victory over Pakistan in 1971 led the Shah to pursue closer relations with India}}</ref><ref name=Byman>{{cite book|last=Byman|first=Daniel|title=Deadly connections: States that Sponsor Terrorism|url=https://archive.org/details/deadlyconnection00byma_576|url-access=limited|year=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-83973-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/deadlyconnection00byma_576/page/n170 159]|quote=India's decisive victory in 1971 led to the signing of the Simla Agreement in 1972}}</ref><br />'''Eastern front:'''<br /> [[Instrument of Surrender (1971)|Surrender of East Pakistan military command]]<br />'''Western front:'''<br />Unilateral ceasefire
| territory         = Eastern Front:
| territory   = Eastern Front:
* Independence of East Pakistan as [[Bangladesh]]
* Independence of East Pakistan as [[Bangladesh]]
Western Front:
Western Front:
* Indian forces captured around {{convert|5795|sqmi|km2|order=flip|abbr=on}} of land in the West but returned it in the 1972 [[Simla Agreement]] as a gesture of goodwill.<ref name="Shuja Nawaz 2008">{{cite book |last=Nawaz |first=Shuja |title=Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within |date=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-547697-2 |page=329}}</ref><ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LCaAQCnO3QQC&q=5000%20miles%20square%20indian%20army%201971&pg=PA81|title=Benazir, a Profile&nbsp;– M. G. Chitkara|access-date=27 July 2012|isbn=9788170247524|last1=Chitkara|first1=M. G|year=1996}}</ref><ref name="https">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ek00fuXVz1wC&q=5000%20miles%20indian%20army%201971&pg=PA117|title=Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War&nbsp;– Victoria Schofield|date=18 January 2003|access-date=27 July 2012|isbn=9781860648984|last1=Schofield|first1=Victoria}}</ref>
* Indian forces captured around {{convert|5795|sqmi|km2|order=flip|abbr=on}} of land in the West but returned it in the 1972 [[Simla Agreement]] as a gesture of goodwill.<ref name="Shuja Nawaz 2008">{{cite book |last=Nawaz |first=Shuja |title=Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within |date=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-547697-2 |page=329}}</ref><ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LCaAQCnO3QQC&q=5000%20miles%20square%20indian%20army%201971&pg=PA81|title=Benazir, a Profile&nbsp;– M. G. Chitkara|accessdate=27 July 2012|isbn=9788170247524|last1=Chitkara|first1=M. G|year=1996}}</ref><ref name="https">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ek00fuXVz1wC&q=5000%20miles%20indian%20army%201971&pg=PA117|title=Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War&nbsp;– Victoria Schofield|date=18 January 2003|accessdate=27 July 2012|isbn=9781860648984|last1=Schofield|first1=Victoria}}</ref>
* Territory captured in [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] was retained by both sides and a new [[Line of Control]] was defined.  
| combatant1 = {{IND}}
| combatant1        = {{Plainlist}}
* {{IND}}
* {{flagicon|Bangladesh|1971}} [[Provisional Government of Bangladesh]]
{{Endplainlist}}
{{clist
|bullets=no
|title=Supported by:
| {{flag|Soviet Union|name=Soviet Union}}<ref name="theworldreporter.com"/><ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/History/1971War/Games.html |title=Cold war games |website=Bharat Rakshak |access-date=20 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609180906/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/History/1971War/Games.html |archive-date=9 June 2011}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite news |date=11 December 2009 |title=Birth of a nation |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/birth-of-a-nation/552795/3 |newspaper=The Indian Express |access-date=14 April 2011}}</ref>
}}
| combatant2        = {{Plainlist}}
* {{PAK}}
* {{flagicon|PAK}} [[East Pakistan]]
{{Endplainlist}}
{{clist
|bullets=no
|title=Supported by:
| {{flag|United States|name=United States}}<ref name="theworldreporter.com"/><ref name="Lancer Publishers, Cheema"/>{{rp|281–282}}<ref name="Routledge, Mishra"/><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />
| {{flag|United Kingdom|name=United Kingdom}}<ref name="theworldreporter.com"/>
| {{flag|China|name=China}}<ref name="theworldreporter.com"/><ref name="Oxford University Press, Alvandi"/>{{rp|61}}
| {{flag|Pahlavi Iran|name=Iran}}<ref name="Oxford University Press, Alvandi"/>{{rp|61}}<ref name="British Academic Press, Mudiam"/>{{rp|78–79}}
| {{flag|Jordan|name=Jordan}}<ref name="Oxford University Press, Alvandi"/>{{rp|61}}
| {{flag|Ceylon|name=Ceylon}}<ref name=":5">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP83S00854R000200130001-0.pdf |title=India and Its Neighbors: Cooperation or Confrontation? |website=CIA |page=7}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{cite web | url=http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=13217 | title=The Island}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{cite web | url=https://www.mfa.gov.lk/brief-overview-of-sri-lankas-foreign-relations-to-post-independence/ |title = Brief Overview of Sri Lanka's Foreign Relations to Post-Independence |website=Foreign Ministry – Sri Lanka}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{cite news |date=11 June 2011|title=Pak thanks Lanka for help in 1971 war|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world/pak-thanks-lanka-for-help-in-1971-war/story-UpZWXd0fFX5eDPac0KMIYL.html|newspaper=Hindustan Times|access-date=14 February 2019}}</ref>
| {{flag|Saudi Arabia|name=Saudi Arabia}}<ref name="Pen and Sword, Bowman"/>{{rp|112}}
| [[File:Flag of Libya (1969–1972).svg|25px]] [[Libyan Arab Republic|Libya]]<ref name="Pen and Sword, Bowman"/>{{rp|112}}<ref name="THe News International"/>
}}
| commander1        = {{flagicon|IND}} [[Varahagiri Venkata Giri|V. V. Giri]]<br />{{small|([[President of India]])}}<br />
{{flagicon|IND}} [[Indira Gandhi]]<br />{{small|([[Prime Minister of India]])}}<br />
{{flagicon|IND}} [[Swaran Singh]]<br />{{small|([[Minister of External Affairs (India)|External Minister of India]])}}<br />
{{flagicon|IND}} [[Jagjivan Ram]]<br />{{small|([[Minister of Defence (India)|Defence Minister of India]])}}<br />
[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[General (India)|Gen]] [[Sam Manekshaw]]<br/>{{small|([[Chief of Army Staff (India)|Chief of Army Staff]])}}<br/>
[[File:Naval Ensign of India.svg|20px]] [[Admiral (India)|Adm]] [[S. M. Nanda]]<br/>{{small|([[Chief of Naval Staff (India)|Chief of Naval Staff]])}}<br/>
[[File:Air Force Ensign of India.svg|20px]][[Air Chief Marshal (India)|ACM]] [[Pratap Chandra Lal|Pratap C. Lal]]<br />{{small|([[Chief of Air Staff (India)|Chief of Air Staff]])}}<br />
[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant General (India)|Lt Gen]] [[Jagjit Singh Arora|J.S. Arora]]<br />{{small|([[General Officer Commanding-in-Chief|GOC-in-C]] [[Eastern Command (India)|Eastern Command]])}}<br />
[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant General (India)|Lt Gen]] [[G.G Bewoor|G.G. Bewoor]]<br />{{small|(GOC-in-C [[Southern Command (India)|Southern Command]])}}<br />
[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant General (India)|Lt Gen]] [[K. P. Candeth]]<br />{{small|(GOC-in-C [[Western Command (India)|Western Command]])}}<br />
[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant General (India)|Lt Gen]] [[Premindra Singh Bhagat|Premindra Bhagat]]<br />{{small|(GOC-in-C [[Central Command (India)|Central Command]])}}<br />
[[File:Vice Admiral of the Indian Navy rank flag.svg|20px]] [[Vice admiral (India)|VAdm]] [[Sourendra Nath Kohli|S. N. Kohli]]<br />{{small|(FOC-in-C [[Western Naval Command]])}}<br/>
[[File:Vice Admiral of the Indian Navy rank flag.svg|20px]] [[Vice admiral (India)|VAdm]] [[Nilakanta Krishnan]]<br />{{small|FOC-in-C [[Eastern Naval Command]])}}<br/>
[[File:Air Force Ensign of India.svg|20px]][[Air Marshal (India)|Air Mshl]] [[Hari Chand Dewan|H. C. Dewan]]<br />{{small|(AOC-in-C [[Eastern Air Command (India)|Eastern Air Command]])}}<br/>
[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant General (India)|Lt Gen]] [[Sagat Singh]] [[Rathore]]<br />{{small|(GOC [[IV Corps (India)|IV Corps]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant General (India)|Lt Gen]] [[Tapishwar Narain Raina|T. N. Raina]]<br />{{small|(GOC [[II Corps (India)|II Corps]])}}<br />
[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant General (India)|Lt Gen]] [[Sartaj Singh (general)|Sartaj Singh]]<br />{{small|(GOC [[XV Corps (India)|XV Corps]])}}<br />
[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant General (India)|Lt Gen]] [[Khem Karan Singh|K. K. Singh]]<br />{{small|(GOC [[I Corps (India)|I Corps]])}}<br />
[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Major General (India)|Maj Gen]] [[J. F. R. Jacob]]<br />{{small|([[Chief of Staff|COS]], Eastern Command)}}<br />[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Major General (India)|Maj Gen]] [[Inderjit Singh Gill]]<br />{{small|(Dir, [[Military operation|Military Operations]])}}<br />
[[File:Rear Admiral of the Indian Navy rank flag.svg|20px]] [[Rear admiral (India)|RAdm]] [[Elenjikal Chandy Kuruvila|E. C. Kuruvila]]<br />{{small|([[Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet|FOCWF]])}}<br/>
[[File:Rear Admiral of the Indian Navy rank flag.svg|20px]] [[Rear admiral (India)|RAdm]] [[S. H. Sarma]]<br />{{small|([[Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet|FOCEF]])}}<br/>
[[File:RAW India.jpg|15px]] [[R. N. Kao|Rameshwar Kao]]<br />{{small|(Director of [[Research and Analysis Wing|RAW]])}}
----
----
{{flagicon|Bangladesh|1971}} [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] <br />{{small|([[President of Bangladesh|President]] of the [[Provisional Government of Bangladesh|Provisional Government]])}}<br />
{{flagicon|Bangladesh|1971}} [[Provisional Government of Bangladesh]]
{{flagicon|Bangladesh|1971}} [[Tajuddin Ahmad]] <br />{{small|([[Prime Minister of Bangladesh|Prime Minister]] of the [[Provisional Government of Bangladesh]])}}<br />
{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1971}} [[Soviet Union]]
{{flagicon|Bangladesh|1971}} [[Colonel|Col.]] [[M. A. G. Osmani]]<br />{{small|([[Commander-in-chief]], [[Mukti Bahini]])}}
| combatant2  = {{PAK}}
----
----
| commander2        = {{flagicon|PAK}} [[Yahya Khan]]<br />{{small|([[President of Pakistan]])}}<br />
{{flagicon|Pakistan|1971}} [[East Pakistan]]
{{flagicon|PAK}} [[Nurul Amin]]<br />{{small|([[Prime Minister of Pakistan]])}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} [[General officer|Gen]] [[Abdul Hamid Khan (general)|A.H. Khan]]<br />{{small|([[Army Chief of Staff (Pakistan)|Chief of Staff]], [[GHQ (Pakistan Army)|Army GHQ]])}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} [[Lieutenant-General|Lt Gen]] [[A. A. K. Niazi|A.A.K. Niazi]]{{Surrendered}}<br />{{small|(Commander, [[Pakistan Eastern Command|Eastern Command]])}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} [[Lieutenant-General|Lt Gen]] [[Gul Hassan Khan]]<br />{{small|([[Chief of General Staff (Pakistan)|Chief of General Staff]])}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Naval Jack of Pakistan.svg}} [[Vice-Admiral|VAdm]] [[Muzaffar Hassan]]<br />{{small|([[Commander in Chief (Pakistan Navy)|C-in-C, Navy]])}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Pakistani Air Force Ensign.svg}} [[Air Marshal|Air Mshl]] [[Abdul Rahim Khan]]<br />{{small|([[Commander in Chief (Pakistan Air Force)|C-in-C, Air Force]])}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} [[Lieutenant-General|Lt Gen]] [[Abdul Ali Malik]]<br />{{small|([[General Officer Commanding|GOC]] [[I Corps (Pakistan)|I Corps]])}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} [[Lieutenant-General|Lt Gen]] [[Tikka Khan]]<br />{{small|(GOC [[II Corps (Pakistan)|II Corps]])}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} [[Lieutenant-General|Lt Gen]] Bahadur Sher Khan<br />{{small|(GOC [[IV Corps (Pakistan)|IV Corps]])}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} [[Major General|Maj Gen]] [[Iftikhar Janjua]] {{KIA}}<br />{{small|(GOC [[Structure of the Pakistan Army|23rd Infantry Division]])}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} [[Major General|Maj Gen]] [[Khadim Hussain Raja|Khadim Hussain]]<br />{{small|(GOC [[Structure of the Pakistan Army|14th Infantry Division]])}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Naval Jack of Pakistan.svg}} [[Rear-Admiral|RAdm]] [[Rashid Ahmed]]<br />{{small|([[Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Navy|COS]], [[NHQ (PN)|NHQ]])}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Naval Jack of Pakistan.svg}} [[Rear-Admiral|RAdm]] [[Mohammad Shariff|Md Shariff]] {{Surrendered}}<br />{{small|(FOC Eastern Naval Command)}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Naval Jack of Pakistan.svg}} [[Rear-Admiral|RAdm]] [[Mujeeb Ahmad Khan Lodhi|M.A.K. Lodhi]]<br />{{small|(FOC Western Naval Command)}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Naval Jack of Pakistan.svg}} [[Rear-Admiral|RAdm]] [[Leslie Mungavin|Leslie Norman]]<br />{{small|(Commander [[Pakistan Marines]])}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Pakistani Air Force Ensign.svg}} [[Air Vice Marshal|AVM]] [[Patrick Desmond Callaghan|P.D. Callaghan]]<br />{{small|([[Chief Inspector|Chief Ins]], Pakistan Air Force)}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Pakistani Air Force Ensign.svg}} [[Air Commodore|Air Cdre]] [[Inamul Haque Khan|Inamul Haq]]{{Surrendered}}<br />{{small|(Cdr Eastern Air Command)}}<br />
{{flagicon image|Pakistani Air Force Ensign.svg}} [[Group Captain|Gp Capt]] [[Zulfiqar Ali Khan|Z.A. Khan]]{{Surrendered}}<br />{{small|([[Chief of Staff|COS]], [[AHQ (Pakistan Air Force)|AHQ Dhaka]])}}<br />
{{flagicon|PAK}}[[Abdul Motaleb Malik]] {{Surrendered}}<br />{{small|([[Governor of East Pakistan]])}}
| strength1        = [[Indian Armed Forces]]: 825,000<ref>{{Cite book|last=Palit|first=Maj Gen DK|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PKvmgfHewHcC|title=The Lightning Campaign: The Indo-Pakistan War, 1971|date=1998|publisher=Lancer Publishers|isbn=978-1-897829-37-0|page=44|language=en}}</ref> – 860,000<ref name=":Cloughley">{{Cite book|last=Cloughley|first=Brian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SqCDwAAQBAJ&q=indian+army+vs+pakistan+army+strength+comparision+1971+war&pg=PT130|title=A History of the Pakistan Army: Wars and Insurrections|date=2016-01-05|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-63144-039-7|language=en}}</ref>
<br /> [[Mukti Bahini]]: 180,000<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rashiduzzaman |first=M. |date=March 1972 |title=Leadership, Organization, Strategies and Tactics of the Bangla Desh Movement |journal=Asian Survey |volume=12 |issue=3 |page=191 |doi=10.2307/2642872 |jstor=2642872 |quote=The Pakistan Government, however, claimed [in June 1971] that the combined fighting strength of the 'secessionists' amounted to about 180,000 armed personnel.}}</ref>
| strength2        = [[Pakistan Armed Forces]]: 350,000<ref name="Dixit">{{cite book |first=J.N.|last=Dixit|title=India-Pakistan in War and Peace|date=2 September 2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1134407572|quote=while the size of the Indian armed forces remained static at one million men and Pakistan's at around 350,000.}}</ref> – 365,000<ref name=":Cloughley" />
<br /> [[Razakar (Pakistan)|Razakars]]: 35,000<ref name="Leonard2006p806" />
| casualties1      = {{IND}}<br />2,500<ref name="Leonard2006p806" />–3,843 killed<ref name="injuredsoldiers">{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/inside-politics/this-vijay-diwas-remember-the-sacrifices-and-do-good-by-our-disabled-soldiers/|title=This Vijay Diwas, remember the sacrifices and do good by our disabled soldiers|work=The Times of India|quote=About 3,843 Indian soldiers died in this war that resulted in the unilateral surrender of the Pakistan Army and led to the creation of Bangladesh. Among the soldiers who returned home triumphant were also 9,851 injured; many of them disabled.|date=16 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217134312/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/inside-politics/this-vijay-diwas-remember-the-sacrifices-and-do-good-by-our-disabled-soldiers/|archive-date=17 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DeeGAwAAQBAJ&q=3843+1971+war+india+deaths&pg=PA11|title=Vulnerable India: A Geographical Study of Disasters|first=Anu|last=Kapur|date=11 March 2010|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9788132105428|via=Google Books}}</ref><br />9,851<ref name="injuredsoldiers"/>–12,000<ref name="Century Air Warfare 1997, pages 384">''The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Air Warfare'', edited by Chris Bishop (Amber publishing 1997, republished 2004 pages 384–387 {{ISBN|1-904687-26-1}})</ref> injured
* 1 [[Breguet Alizé|naval aircraft]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://indiannavy.nic.in/t2t2e/Trans2Trimph/chapters/10_1971%20wnc1.htm |title=Chapter 10: Naval Operations in the Western Naval Command |website=Indian Navy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223133540/http://indiannavy.nic.in/t2t2e/Trans2Trimph/chapters/10_1971%20wnc1.htm |archive-date=23 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://orbat.com/site/cimh/navy/navy_1971_kills.html |title=Damage Assessment– 1971 Indo Pak Naval War |publisher=Orbat.com |access-date=27 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319212243/http://orbat.com/site/cimh/navy/navy_1971_kills.html |archive-date=19 March 2012 }}</ref>
* 1 [[INS Khukri (F149)|frigate]]
* Okha harbour damaged/fuel tanks destroyed<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/pakistan/air-force-combat.htm|title=Pakistan Air Force Combat Expirence|quote=Pakistan retaliated by causing extensive damage through a single B-57 attack on Indian naval base Okha. The bombs scored direct hits on fuel dumps, ammunition dump and the missile boats jetty.|work=Global Security|date=9 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Dr. He Hemant Kumar Pandey & Manish Raj Singh|title=INDIA'S MAJOR MILITARY & RESCUE OPERATIONS|page=117|publisher=Horizon Books ( A Division of Ignited Minds Edutech P Ltd), 2017|date=1 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Col Y Udaya Chandar (Retd)|title=Independent India's All the Seven Wars|publisher=Notion Press, 2018|date=2 January 2018}}</ref>
 
Pakistani claims
* 130 [[Indian Air Force|IAF aircraft]]<ref name="globalsecurity.org" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.paf.gov.pk/history.html|title=Pakistan Air Force – Official website|publisher=Paf.gov.pk|access-date=27 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111215075643/http://www.paf.gov.pk/history.html|archive-date=15 December 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>


Indian claims
{{flagicon|United States|1971}} [[United States]]
* 45 [[Indian Air Force|IAF aircraft]]<ref name="Combat Kills">{{cite web |url=http://orbat.com/site/cimh/iaf/IAF_1971_kills_rev1.pdf |title=IAF Combat Kills – 1971 Indo-Pak Air War |publisher=orbat.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113013008/http://orbat.com/site/cimh/iaf/IAF_1971_kills_rev1.pdf |archive-date=13 January 2014 |access-date=20 December 2011}}</ref>


Neutral claims<ref name="Leonard2006p806">{{cite book |last1=Leonard |first1=Thomas M. |year=2006 |title=Encyclopedia of the Developing World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gc2NAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA806 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=806 |isbn=978-0-415-97664-0}}</ref>
{{flagicon|United Kingdom|1971}} [[United Kingdom]]
* 45 [[Indian Air Force|IAF aircraft]]
* 80 tanks
| casualties2      = {{PAK}}<br />9,000 killed<ref name=Pradhan>{{cite book |last=Leonard |year=2006 |first=Thomas M. |title=Encyclopedia of the developing world, Volume 1 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=806|isbn=978-0-415-97662-6}}</ref><br /> 25,000 wounded<ref name="Century Air Warfare 1997, pages 384"/>
<br /> 93,000 captured<br /> 2 [[destroyer]]s<ref name="GlobalSecurity" /><br /> 1 [[Minesweeper (ship)|Minesweeper]]<ref name="GlobalSecurity" /><br /> 1 [[PNS Ghazi|Submarine]]<ref name="BR">{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/ISSUE4-2/harry.html |title=The Sinking of the Ghazi |website=Bharat Rakshak Monitor, 4(2) |access-date=20 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128104709/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/ISSUE4-2/harry.html |archive-date=28 November 2011 }}</ref><br /> 3 [[Patrol vessel]]s<br /> 7 [[gunboat]]s
* Pakistani main port Karachi facilities damaged/fuel tanks destroyed<ref name="GlobalSecurity" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040111/spectrum/book1.htm|title=How west was won...on the waterfront|newspaper=The Tribune|access-date=24 December 2011}}</ref>
* Pakistani airfields damaged and cratered<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_330.shtml|title=India&nbsp;– Pakistan War, 1971; Western Front, Part I|publisher=acig.com|access-date=22 December 2011|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/69aZfN64R?url=http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_330.shtml|archive-date=1 August 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>


Pakistani claims
{{flagicon|Sri Lanka|1971}} [[Sri Lanka]]
* 42 [[Pakistan Air Force|PAF aircraft]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1971War/Appendix3.html |title=Aircraft Losses in Pakistan – 1971 War |access-date=24 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501082102/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1971War/Appendix3.html |archive-date=1 May 2009 }}</ref>


Indian claims
{{flagicon|Iran|1971}} [[ Pahlavi Iran]]
* 94 [[Pakistan Air Force|PAF aircraft]]<ref name="Combat Kills" />


Neutral claims<ref name="Leonard2006p806" />
{{flagicon|France|1971}} [[ France ]]
* 75 [[Pakistan Air Force|PAF aircraft]]
* 200 tanks
}}


{{Campaignbox Indo-Pakistani War of 1971}}
{{flagicon|Turkey|1971}} [[ Turkey ]]
{{Campaignbox Bangladesh Liberation War}}
{{Campaignbox Indo-Pakistani Wars}}


The '''Indo-Pakistani War of 1971''' was a military confrontation between India and [[Pakistan]] that occurred during the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] in [[East Pakistan]] from 3&nbsp;December 1971 to the [[Pakistani Instrument of Surrender|fall of Dacca]] ([[Dhaka]]) on 16 December 1971.  The war began with [[Operation Chengiz Khan]]'s preemptive aerial strikes on 11 [[List of Indian Air Force stations|Indian air stations]], which led to the commencement of hostilities with Pakistan and Indian entry into the war for independence in East Pakistan on the side of [[Bangladesh Forces|Bengali nationalist forces]], expanding the existing conflict with Indian and Pakistani forces engaging on both eastern and western fronts.<ref name="time27Dec1971">{{cite magazine |title=India: Easy Victory, Uneasy Peace |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,905593,00.html |url-access=subscription |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=27 December 1971}}</ref> 13 days after the war started, India achieved a clear upper hand, the [[Pakistan Eastern Command|Eastern Command]] of the [[Pakistan Armed Forces|Pakistan military]] signed the [[Instrument of Surrender (1971)|instrument of surrender]]<ref>Azhar, M. u. R., Masood, S., & Malek, N. M. (2018). Conflict and Development: A case study of East Pakistan Crisis, 1971. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 2(9).</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://sify.com/news/1971-war-i-will-give-you-30-minutes-news-columns-jmqlV0fcjja.html |title=1971 War: 'I will give you 30 minutes' |website=Sify.com |access-date=14 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206145925/http://sify.com/news/1971-war-i-will-give-you-30-minutes-news-columns-jmqlV0fcjja.html |archive-date=6 December 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> on 16 December 1971 in Dhaka, marking the [[Independence of Bangladesh|formation of East Pakistan]] as the new nation of [[Bangladesh]]. Approximately 93,000 Pakistani servicemen were [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Prisoners of War Investigation|taken prisoner]] by the [[Indian Army]], which included 79,676 to 81,000 uniformed personnel of the Pakistan Armed Forces, including some Bengali soldiers who had remained loyal to Pakistan.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nuYcwYCcjpIC&q=many%20pakistani%20women%20prisoners%20of%20war%20in%201971&pg=PA216|title=Mainsprings of Indian and Pakistani Foreign Policies&nbsp;– S. M. Burke|year=1974|isbn=9780816607204|access-date=27 July 2012|last1=Burke|first1=S. M}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last=Bose |first=Sarmila |date=November 2011 |title=The question of genocide and the quest for justice in the 1971 war |url=http://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/materials/profile_materials/jgr%20vol%2013%20no%204%202011.pdf |journal=Journal of Genocide Research |volume=13 |issue=4 |page=398 |doi=10.1080/14623528.2011.625750|s2cid=38668401 }}</ref> The remaining 10,324 to 12,500 [[Prisoner of war|prisoners]] were civilians, either family members of the military personnel or collaborators ([[Razakar (Pakistan)|Razakars]]).<ref name="The Daily Star">{{cite news |title=Jamaat claims denied by evidence |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-25257 |work=THE DAILY STAR|date=28 February 2008 |access-date=10 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="mosq-mill">{{cite book|last=Haqqani|first=Hussain|title=Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYppZ_dEjdIC&pg=PP1|year=2005|publisher=United Book Press|isbn=978-0-87003-214-1 }}, Chapter 3, p. 87.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Burke|first=Samuel Martin|title=Mainsprings of Indian and Pakistani Foreign Policies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dF3OSAAACAAJ|year=1974|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-0-8166-5714-8|page=216}}</ref>
{{flagicon|China|1971}} [[China]]


It is estimated that members of the Pakistani military and supporting pro-Pakistani Islamist militias [[1971 Bangladesh genocide|killed between 300,000 and 3,000,000]] civilians in Bangladesh.<ref name="Women and Climate Change in Bangladesh">{{cite book
{{flagicon|Israel|1971}} [[Israel]]
|last1=Alston
| commander1  = {{flagicon|IND}} [[Indira Gandhi]]<br />{{small|([[Prime Minister of India]])}}<br />{{flagicon|IND}} [[Varahagiri Venkata Giri|V. V. Giri]]<br />{{small|([[President of India]])}}<br />{{flagicon|IND}} [[Swaran Singh]]<br />{{small|([[Minister of External Affairs (India)|External Minister of India]])}}<br />{{flagicon|IND}} [[Jagjivan Ram]]<br />{{small|([[Minister of Defence (India)|Defence Minister of India]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[General officer|Gen]] [[Sam Manekshaw]]<br />{{small|([[Chief of Army Staff (India)|Chief of Army Staff]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant-General|Lt.Gen]] [[Jagjit Singh Arora|J.S. Arora]]<br />{{small|([[General Officer Commanding-in-Chief|GOC-in-C]], [[Eastern Command (India)|Eastern Command]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant-General|Lt.Gen]] [[G.G Bewoor|G.G. Bewoor]]<br />{{small|(GOC-in-C, [[Southern Command (India)|Southern Command]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant-General|Lt.Gen]] [[K. P. Candeth]]<br />{{small|(GOC-in-C, [[Western Command (India)|Western Command]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant-General|Lt.Gen]] [[Premindra Singh Bhagat|Premindra Bhagat]]<br />{{small|(GOC-in-C, [[Central Command (India)|Central Command]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant-General|Lt.Gen]] [[Sagat Singh]]<br />{{small|(GOC-in-C, [[IV Corps (India)|IV Corps]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant-General|Lt.Gen]] [[Tapishwar Narain Raina|T. N. Raina]]<br />{{small|(GOC-in-C, [[II Corps (India)|II Corps]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant-General|Lt.Gen]] [[Sartaj Singh (general)|Sartaj Singh]]<br />{{small|(GOC-in-C, [[XV Corps (India)|XV Corps]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant-General|Lt.Gen]] [[Khem Karan Singh|Karan Singh]]<br />{{small|(GOC-in-C, [[I Corps (India)|I Corps]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Major General|MajGen]] [[J. F. R. Jacob|Farj R. Jacob]]<br />{{small|([[Chief of Staff|COS]], Eastern Command)}}<br />[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Major General|MajGen]] [[Om Prakash Malhotra|Om Malhotra]]<br />{{small|(COS,  IV Corps)}}<br />[[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Major General|MajGen]] [[Inderjit Singh Gill]]<br />{{small|(Dir, [[Military operation|Military Operations]])}}<br />[[File:Naval Ensign of India.svg|20px]] [[Admiral|Adm]] [[S. M. Nanda]]<br />{{small|([[Chief of Naval Staff (India)|Chief of Naval Staff]])}}<br />[[File:Naval Ensign of India.svg|20px]] [[Vice Admiral|VAdm]] [[Sourendra Nath Kohli|S. N. Kohli]]<br />{{small|(Cdr. [[Western Naval Command]])}}<br />[[File:Naval Ensign of India.svg|20px]] [[Vice Admiral|VAdm]] [[Nilakanta Krishnan|N. Krishnan]]<br />{{small|(Cdr. [[Eastern Naval Command]])}}<br />[[File:Naval Ensign of India.svg|20px]] [[Rear Admiral|RAdm]] [[S H Sarma]]<br />{{small|(Cdr. [[Eastern Fleet (India)|Eastern Fleet]])}}<br />[[File:Air Force Ensign of India.svg|20px]] [[Air Chief Marshal|ACM]] [[Pratap Chandra Lal|Pratap C. Lal]]<br />{{small|([[Chief of Air Staff (India)|Chief of Air Staff]])}}<br />[[File:RAW India.jpg|15px]] [[R. N. Kao|Rameshwar Kao]]<br />{{small|(Director of [[Research and Analysis Wing|RAW]])}}<br />{{flagicon|Bangladesh|1971}} [[Tajuddin Ahmad]] <br />{{small|([[Prime Minister of Bangladesh|PM]] [[Provisional Government of Bangladesh|Provisional Government]])}}<br />{{flagicon|Bangladesh|1971}} [[Colonel|Col.]] [[M. A. G. Osmani|M.A.G. Osmani]]<br />{{small|(Commander, [[Mukti Bahini]])}}
|first1=Margaret
| commander2  = {{flagicon|PAK}} [[Yahya Khan]]<br />{{small|([[President of Pakistan]])}}<br />{{flagicon|PAK}} [[Nurul Amin]]<br />{{small|([[Prime Minister of Pakistan]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg|20px]] [[General officer|Gen.]] [[Abdul Hamid Khan (general)|A.H. Khan]]<br />{{small|([[Army Chief of Staff (Pakistan)|Chief of Staff]], [[GHQ (Pakistan Army)|Army GHQ]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant-General|Lt.Gen]] [[A. A. K. Niazi|A.A.K. Niazi]]{{Surrendered}}<br />{{small|(Commander, [[Pakistan Eastern Command|Eastern Command]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant-General|Lt.Gen]] [[Gul Hassan Khan]]<br />{{small|([[Chief of General Staff (Pakistan)|Chief of General Staff]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant-General|Lt.Gen]] [[Abdul Ali Malik]]<br />{{small|(Commander, [[I Corps (Pakistan)|I Corps]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant-General|Lt.Gen]] [[Tikka Khan]]<br />{{small|(Commander, [[II Corps (Pakistan)|II Corps]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant-General|Lt.Gen]] [[Bahadur Sher Khan|Sher Khan]]<br />{{small|(Commander, [[IV Corps (Pakistan)|IV Corps]])}}<br />[[File:Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg|20px]] [[Major General|MGen]] [[Iftikhar Janjua]] [[Killed in action|†]]<br />{{small|([[General Officer Commanding|GOC]], [[Structure of the Pakistan Army|23rd Infantry Division]])}}<br />{{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} [[Major General|MGen]] [[Khadim Hussain Raja|Khadim Hussain]]<br />{{small|(GOC, [[Structure of the Pakistan Army|14th Infantry Division]])}}<br />[[File:Naval Jack of Pakistan.svg|20px]] [[Vice-Admiral|VAdm]] [[Muzaffar Hassan]]<br />{{small|([[Commander in Chief (Pakistan Navy)|Cdr-in-Chief, Navy]])}}<br />[[File:Naval Jack of Pakistan.svg|20px]] [[Rear-Admiral|RAdm]] [[Rashid Ahmed]]<br />{{small|([[Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Navy|COS]], [[NHQ (PN)|Navy NHQ]])}}<br />[[File:Naval Jack of Pakistan.svg|20px]] [[Rear-Admiral|RAdm]] [[Mohammad Shariff|Moh'd Shariff]] {{Surrendered}}<br />{{small|([[Commander (rank)|Cdr]], Eastern Naval Command)}}<br />[[File:Naval Jack of Pakistan.svg|20px]] [[Rear-Admiral|RAdm]] [[Mujeeb Ahmad Khan Lodhi|M.A.K. Lodhi]]<br />{{small|([[Commander (rank)|Cdr]], Western Naval Command)}}<br />[[File:Naval Jack of Pakistan.svg|20px]] [[Rear-Admiral|RAdm]] [[Leslie Mungavin|Leslie Norman]]<br />{{small|(Commander, [[Pakistan Marines]])}}<br />[[File:Pakistani Air Force Ensign.svg|20px]] [[Air Marshal|AM]] [[Abdul Rahim Khan]]<br />{{small|([[Commander in Chief (Pakistan Air Force)|Cdr-in-Chief, Air Force]])}}<br />[[File:Pakistani Air Force Ensign.svg|20px]] [[Air Vice Marshal|AVM]] [[Patrick Desmond Callaghan|P.D. Callaghan]]<br />{{small|([[Chief Inspector|Chief Ins]], Pakistan Air Force)}}<br />[[File:Pakistani Air Force Ensign.svg|20px]] [[Air Commodore|Air Cdre]] [[Inamul Haque Khan|Inamul Haq]]{{Surrendered}}<br />{{small|(Cdr Eastern Air Command)}}<br />[[File:Pakistani Air Force Ensign.svg|20px]] [[Group Captain|Gp.Capt.]] [[Zulfiqar Ali Khan|Z.A. Khan]]{{Surrendered}}<br />{{small|([[Chief of Staff|COS]], [[AHQ (Pakistan Air Force)|Air AHQ Dhaka]])}}<br />[[Abdul Motaleb Malik]] {{Surrendered}}<br />{{small|([[Governor of East Pakistan]])}}
|title=Women and Climate Change in Bangladesh
| strength1  = [[Indian Armed Forces]]: 1,000,000<ref name="Dixit">{{cite book |first=J.N.|last=Dixit|title=India-Pakistan in War and Peace|date=2 September 2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1134407572|quote=while the size of the Indian armed forces remained static at one million men and Pakistan's at around 350,000.}}</ref> <br /> [[Mukti Bahini]]: 180,000<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rashiduzzaman |first=M. |date=March 1972 |title=Leadership, Organization, Strategies and Tactics of the Bangla Desh Movement |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_asian-survey_1972-03_12_3/page/191 |journal=Asian Survey |volume=12 |issue=3 |page=191 |doi=10.2307/2642872 |jstor=2642872 |quote=The Pakistan Government, however, claimed [in June 1971] that the combined fighting strength of the 'secessionists' amounted to about 180,000 armed personnel.}}</ref><br /> Total: '''1,180,000'''
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WMSgBgAAQBAJ&q=3%20million%20bangladeshi%20genocide%201971%20war&pg=PA40
| strength2  = [[Pakistan Armed Forces]]: '''350,000<ref name="Dixit"/>'''
|access-date=2016-03-08
| casualties1 = {{IND}}<br />2,500<ref name="Leonard2006p806" />–3,843 killed<ref name="injuredsoldiers">{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/inside-politics/this-vijay-diwas-remember-the-sacrifices-and-do-good-by-our-disabled-soldiers/|title=This Vijay Diwas, remember the sacrifices and do good by our disabled soldiers|work=Times of India|quote=About 3,843 Indian soldiers died in this war that resulted in the unilateral surrender of the Pakistan Army and led to the creation of Bangladesh. Among the soldiers who returned home triumphant were also 9,851 injured; many of them disabled.|date=16 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217134312/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/inside-politics/this-vijay-diwas-remember-the-sacrifices-and-do-good-by-our-disabled-soldiers/|archive-date=17 December 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=DeeGAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA11#v=onepage&q=3843%201971%20war%20india%20deaths Vulnerable India: A Geographical Study of Disaster By Anu Kapur]</ref><br />9,851<ref name="injuredsoldiers"/>–12,000<ref name="Century Air Warfare 1997, pages 384">''The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Air Warfare'', edited by Chris Bishop (Amber publishing 1997, republished 2004 pages 384–387 {{ISBN|1-904687-26-1}})</ref> injured
|year=2015
* 1 [[Breguet Alizé|Naval aircraft]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://indiannavy.nic.in/t2t2e/Trans2Trimph/chapters/10_1971%20wnc1.htm |title=Chapter 10: Naval Operations In The Western Naval Command |website=Indian Navy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223133540/http://indiannavy.nic.in/t2t2e/Trans2Trimph/chapters/10_1971%20wnc1.htm |archive-date=23 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://orbat.com/site/cimh/navy/navy_1971_kills.html |title=Damage Assessment– 1971 Indo Pak Naval War |publisher=Orbat.com |accessdate=27 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319212243/http://orbat.com/site/cimh/navy/navy_1971_kills.html |archivedate=19 March 2012 }}</ref>
|publisher=Routledge
* 1 [[INS Khukri (F149)|Frigate]]
|isbn=9781317684862
*Okha harbour damaged/fuel tanks destroyed<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/pakistan/air-force-combat.htm|title=Pakistan Air Force Combat Expirence|quote=Pakistan retaliated by causing extensive damage through a single B-57 attack on Indian naval base Okha. The bombs scored direct hits on fuel dumps, ammunition dump and the missile boats jetty.|work=Global Security|date=9 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Dr. He Hemant Kumar Pandey & Manish Raj Singh|title=INDIA'S MAJOR MILITARY & RESCUE OPERATIONS|page=117|publisher=Horizon Books ( A Division of Ignited Minds Edutech P Ltd), 2017|date=1 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Col Y Udaya Chandar (Retd)|title=Independent India's All the Seven Wars|publisher=Notion Press, 2018|date=2 January 2018}}</ref>
|page=40}}</ref><ref name="Plight and Fate of Women During and Following Genocide">
* Damage to several western Indian airfields<ref name=Lal>{{cite book|author=Air Chief Marshal P C Lal|title=My Days with the IAF|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vvTM-xbW41MC|year=1986|publisher=Lancer|isbn=978-81-7062-008-2|page=286}}</ref><ref name="indiadefenceupdate.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.indiadefenceupdate.com/news94.html |title=The Battle of Longewala—The Truth |website=India Defence Update |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608050522/http://www.indiadefenceupdate.com/news94.html |archive-date=8 June 2011}}</ref>
{{cite book
|last1=Debnath
|first1=Angela
|year=2012
|orig-year=First published 2009
|chapter=The Bangladesh Genocide: The Plight of Women
|editor-last1=Totten
|editor-first1=Samuel
|editor-link=Samuel Totten
|title=Plight and Fate of Women During and Following Genocide
|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=crJ7ai7GJH0C&q=3%20million%20bangladeshi%20genocide%201971%20war&pg=PA55
|access-date=2016-03-08
|publisher=Transaction Publishers
|isbn=978-1-4128-4759-9
|page=55}}</ref><ref name="Exploring Social Psychology 4E">
{{cite book
|last=Myers
|first=David G.
|title=Exploring Social Psychology 4E
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X3fdaGkEy6MC&q=3%20million%20bangladeshi%20genocide%201971%20war&pg=PA269
|access-date=2016-03-08
|year=2004
|publisher=Tata McGraw-Hill Education
|isbn=9780070700628
|page=269}}</ref><ref>Consulate (Dacca) Cable, Sitrep: [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB79/BEBB6.pdf Army Terror Campaign Continues in Dacca; Evidence Military Faces Some Difficulties Elsewhere], 31 March 1971, Confidential, 3 pp.</ref><ref name="kennedy">Kennedy, Senator Edward, "Crisis in South Asia&nbsp;– A report to the Subcommittee investigating the Problem of Refugees and Their Settlement, Submitted to U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee", 1 November 1971, U.S. Govt. Press, page 66. Sen. Kennedy wrote, "Field reports to the U.S. Government, countless eye-witness journalistic accounts, reports of International agencies such as World Bank and additional information available to the subcommittee document the reign of terror which grips East Bengal (East Pakistan). Hardest hit have been members of the Hindu community who have been robbed of their lands and shops, systematically slaughtered, and in some places, painted with yellow patches marked 'H'. All of this has been officially sanctioned, ordered and implemented under martial law from Islamabad."</ref> As a result of the conflict, a further eight to ten million people fled the country to seek refuge in India.<ref name="Rummel-8-2">Rummel, Rudolph J., [http://www.Hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP8.HTM "Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900"], {{ISBN|3-8258-4010-7}}, Chapter 8, [http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.TAB8.2.GIF Table 8.2 Pakistan Genocide in Bangladesh Estimates, Sources, and Calculations]: lowest estimate 2 million claimed by Pakistan (reported by Aziz, Qutubuddin. ''Blood and tears'' Karachi: United Press of Pakistan, 1974. pp. 74, 226), some other sources used by Rummel suggest a figure of between 8 and 10 million with one (Johnson, B. L. C. ''Bangladesh''. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1975. pp. 73, 75) that "could have been" 12 million.</ref>


During the [[Bangladesh Liberation War|1971 Bangladesh war for independence]], members of the Pakistani military and supporting pro-Pakistani Islamist militias called the Razakars [[Rape during the Bangladesh Liberation War|raped between 200,000 and 400,000]] [[Bangladeshis|Bangladeshi]] women and girls in a systematic campaign of [[genocidal rape]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sharlach |first=Lisa |year=2000 |title=Rape as Genocide: Bangladesh, the Former Yugoslavia, and Rwanda |journal=New Political Science |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=92–93 |doi=10.1080/713687893 |s2cid=144966485}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sajjad |first=Tazreena |year=2012 |orig-year=First published 2009 |chapter=The Post-Genocidal Period and its Impact on Women |editor1-last=Tottne |editor1-first=Samuel |editor1-link=Samuel Totten |title=Plight and Fate of Women During and Following Genocide |publisher=Transaction Publishers |page=225 |isbn=978-1-4128-4759-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ghadbian |first=Najib |editor1=Kent Worcester |editor2=Sally A. Bermanzohn |editor3=Mark Ungar |title=Violence and Politics: Globalization's Paradox |chapter=Political Islam: Inclusion or violence? |year=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-93111-3 |page=111}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mookherjee |first=Nayanika |year=2012 |chapter=Mass rape and the inscription of gendered and racial domination during the Bangladesh War of 1971 |editor1=Raphaelle Branche |editor2=Fabrice Virgili |title=Rape in Wartime |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |page=68 |isbn=978-0-230-36399-1}}</ref>
'''Pakistani claims'''
* 130 [[Indian Air Force|IAF Aircraft]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.paf.gov.pk/history.html|title=Pakistan Air Force – Official website|publisher=Paf.gov.pk|accessdate=27 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111215075643/http://www.paf.gov.pk/history.html|archive-date=15 December 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>


== Background ==
'''Indian claims'''
{{main|Cable 1971|Admiral Ahsan Mission|Bangladesh Liberation War|Mukti Bahini|Timeline of Bangladesh Liberation War|1971 Bangladesh genocide}}
* 45 [[Indian Air Force|IAF Aircraft]]<ref name="Combat Kills">{{cite web |url=http://orbat.com/site/cimh/iaf/IAF_1971_kills_rev1.pdf |title=IAF Combat Kills – 1971 Indo-Pak Air War |publisher=orbat.com |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113013008/http://orbat.com/site/cimh/iaf/IAF_1971_kills_rev1.pdf |archive-date=13 January 2014 |access-date=20 December 2011}}</ref>


The Indo-Pakistani conflict was sparked by the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]], a conflict between the traditionally dominant West Pakistanis and the majority East Pakistanis.<ref name="GlobalSecurity">{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/indo-pak_1971.htm|title=Indo-Pakistani War of 1971|website=Global Security|access-date=20 October 2009}}</ref> The political tensions between [[East Bengal]] and West Pakistan had its origin in the [[Independence of Pakistan|creation of Pakistan]] as a result of the [[partition of India]] by the [[United Kingdom]] in 1947; the popular [[Bengali language movement|language movement]] in 1950; [[1964 East Pakistan riots|mass riots]] in East Bengal in 1964; and the mass protests in 1969. These led to the resignation of [[President of Pakistan|President]] [[Ayub Khan (President of Pakistan)|Ayub Khan]], who invited army chief General [[Yahya Khan]] to take over the [[Government of Pakistan|central government]].<ref name="PublicAffairs, Lieven">{{cite book|last1=Lieven|first1=Anatol|title=Pakistan: A Hard Country|publisher=PublicAffairs|isbn=978-1610391627|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=exBKSo-Pf6cC&q=Bengali%20Pakistani%20people%5C&pg=PT77|access-date=23 December 2016|language=en|date=2012-03-06}}</ref>{{rp|xxx}} The geographical distance between the eastern and western wings of Pakistan was vast; East Pakistan lay over {{convert|1000|mi|km|order=flip}} away, which greatly hampered any attempt to integrate the [[Culture of Bangladesh|Bengali]] and the [[Culture of Pakistan|Pakistani]] cultures.<ref name="Encyclopaedia Britannica, Abbott">{{cite book|last1=Abbott|first1=David|title=Changing World: Pakistan|date=2015|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica|location=Minnesota, U.S.|isbn=9781625133212|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KZwLBwAAQBAJ&q=distance%20between%20east%20and%20west%20pakistan%201000%20miles&pg=PA14|access-date=8 January 2017|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|13–14}}<ref>{{Cite news|last=team|first=BS Web|date=2018-12-16|title=1971 war: The story of India's victory, Pak's surrender, Bangladesh freedom|work=Business Standard India|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/vijay-diwas-how-india-ended-pak-s-atrocities-and-ensured-freed-bangladesh-118121600120_1.html|access-date=2020-07-06}}</ref>
'''Neutral claims'''
* 45 [[Indian Air Force|IAF Aircraft]]<ref name="Leonard2006p806">{{cite book |last1=Leonard |first1=Thomas M. |year=2006 |title=Encyclopedia of the Developing World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gc2NAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA806 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=806 |isbn=978-0-415-97664-0}}</ref>
| casualties2 = {{PAK}}<br />9,000 killed<ref name=Pradhan>{{cite book |last=Leonard |year=2006 |first=Thomas M. |title=Encyclopedia of the developing world, Volume 1 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-97662-6}}</ref><br /> 25,000 wounded<ref name="Century Air Warfare 1997, pages 384">''The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Air Warfare'', edited by Chris Bishop (Amber publishing 1997, republished 2004 pages 384–387 {{ISBN|1-904687-26-1}})</ref>
<br /> 93,000 captured<br /> 2 [[Destroyer]]s<br /> 1 [[Minesweeper (ship)|Minesweeper]]<br /> 1 [[PNS Ghazi|Submarine]]<ref name="BR">{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/ISSUE4-2/harry.html |title=The Sinking of the Ghazi |website=Bharat Rakshak Monitor, 4(2) |accessdate=20 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128104709/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/ISSUE4-2/harry.html |archivedate=28 November 2011 }}</ref><br /> 3 [[Patrol vessel]]s<br /> 7 [[Gunboat]]s
* Pakistani main port Karachi facilities damaged/fuel tanks destroyed<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040111/spectrum/book1.htm|title=How west was won...on the waterfront|newspaper=The Tribune|accessdate=24 December 2011}}</ref>
* Pakistani airfields damaged and cratered<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_330.shtml|title=India&nbsp;– Pakistan War, 1971; Western Front, Part I|publisher=acig.com|accessdate=22 December 2011|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/69aZfN64R?url=http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_330.shtml|archive-date=1 August 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>


To overcome the Bengali domination and prevent formation of the central government in [[Islamabad]], the controversial [[One Unit]] programme established the two wings of East and [[West Pakistan]]. West Pakistanis' opposition to these efforts made it difficult to effectively govern both wings.<ref name="PublicAffairs, Lieven"/>{{rp|xxx}} In 1969, President [[Yahya Khan]] announced the first [[Elections in Pakistan|general elections]] and [[Legal Framework Order, 1970|disestablished the status of]] West Pakistan as a single province in 1970, in order to restore it to its original heterogeneous status comprising [[Four Provinces (Pakistan)|four provinces]], as defined at the time of establishment of Pakistan in 1947.<ref name="Nazaria-e-Pakistan Trust, 2003">{{cite web |title=Legal Framework Order 1970|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/legal-framework-order|website=Story of Pakistan|publisher=Nazaria-e-Pakistan Trust, 2003|access-date=23 December 2016|date=1 June 2003}}</ref> In addition, there were religious and racial tensions between Bengalis and the multi-ethnic West Pakistanis, as Bengalis looked different from the dominant West Pakistanis.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chatterjee |first1=Pranab |year=2010 |title=A Story of Ambivalent Modernization in Bangladesh and West Bengal: The Rise and Fall of Bengali Elitism in South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lAR1D0Wi2rsC&pg=PA24 |publisher=Peter Lang |page=24 |isbn=978-1-4331-0820-4}}</ref>
'''Pakistani claims'''
* 42 [[Pakistan Air Force|PAF Aircraft]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1971War/Appendix3.html |title=Aircraft Losses in Pakistan - 1971 War |accessdate=24 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501082102/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1971War/Appendix3.html |archivedate=1 May 2009 }}</ref>


The [[1970 Pakistani general election|general elections]], held in 1970, resulted in East Pakistan's [[Awami League]] gaining 167 out of 169 seats for the [[East Pakistan Legislative Assembly]], and a near-[[Supermajority|absolute majority]] in the 313-seat [[National Assembly of Pakistan|National Assembly]], while the [[vote bank|vote]] in West Pakistan was mostly won by the [[Socialism in Pakistan|socialist]] [[Pakistan Peoples Party]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=Dieter|last1=Nohlen|title=Elections in Asia and the Pacific|date=2004|publisher=Oxford Univ. Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-924958-9|edition=Reprint}}</ref>{{rp|686–687}} The Awami League leader [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] stressed his political position by presenting his [[Six point movement|Six Points]] and endorsing the Bengalis' right to govern.<ref name="PublicAffairs, Lieven"/>{{rp|xxx}} The League's election success caused many West Pakistanis to fear that it would allow the Bengalis to draft the constitution based on the six-points and liberalism.<ref name="Pan Macmillan, Guha">{{cite book|last1=Guha|first1=Ramachandra|title=India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy|publisher=Pan Macmillan|isbn=9780330540209|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FKepYC6wzwC&q=Awami%20league%20pakistani%20constitution%20fear&pg=PR45|access-date=23 December 2016|language=en|date=2011-02-10}}</ref>{{rp|xlv}}
'''Indian claims'''
* 94 [[Pakistan Air Force|PAF Aircraft]]<ref name="Combat Kills" />


To resolve the crisis, the [[Admiral Ahsan Mission]] was formed to provide recommendations. Its findings were met with favourable reviews from the political leaders of West Pakistan, with the exception of [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]], the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party.<ref name="Algora Publishing, Ehtisham">{{cite book|last1=Ehtisham|first1=S. Akhtar|title=A Medical Doctor Examines Life on Three Continents: A Pakistani View|date=1998|publisher=Algora Publishing|isbn=9780875866345|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IuseZxgbn8oC&q=admiral%20ahsan%20formula&pg=PA109|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref>{{rp|109–110}}
'''Neutral claims'''
[[File:Historical Pakistan.gif|thumb|left|250px|The map shows Pakistan and East Pakistan; between them was {{convert|1000|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} of [[Geography of India|Indian territory]].]]
* 75 [[Pakistan Air Force|PAF Aircraft]]<ref name="Leonard2006p806" />
However, the military top brass vetoed the mission's proposal.<ref name="Algora Publishing, Ehtisham"/>{{rp|110}} [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] endorsed the [[veto]],<ref name="Algora Publishing, Ehtisham"/>{{rp|110}} and subsequently refused to yield the [[Prime Minister of Pakistan|premiership]] of Pakistan to [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]]. The Awami League called for general strikes in the country. President Yahya Khan postponed the inauguration of the National Assembly, causing a shattering disillusionment to the Awami League and their supporters throughout East Pakistan.<ref name="National Book Club, Ghazali">{{cite web|last1=Ghazali|first1=Abdus Sattar|title=Islamic Pakistan: Illusions and Reality|url=http://ghazali.net/book1/chapter_5.htm|website=ghazali.net|publisher=National Book Club|access-date=23 December 2016}}</ref> In reaction, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called for general strikes that eventually [[Government shutdown|shutdown]] the government, and dissidents in the East began targeting the ethnic [[Bihari people|Bihari]] community, which had supported West Pakistan.<ref name="D'Costa 2011 103">{{Cite book|title=Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia|last=D'Costa|first=Bina|publisher=Routledge|year=2011|isbn=9780415565660|page=103}}</ref>
}}
The '''Indo-Pakistani War of 1971''' was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Lasting just 13 days, it is considered one of the shortest wars in history.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,905593,00.html The World: India: Easy Victory, Uneasy Peace] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130110032215/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,905593,00.html |date=2013-01-10 }}, [[Time (magazine)]], 1971-12-27</ref><ref>[http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/98112-world_shortest_war-0 World’s shortest war lasted for only 45 minutes], [[Pravda]], 2007-03-10</ref>


In early March 1971, approximately 300 Biharis were slaughtered in riots by Bengali mobs in [[Chittagong]] alone.<ref name="D'Costa 2011 103"/> The Government of Pakistan used the "Bihari massacre" to justify its deployment of the military in East Pakistan on 25 March, when it initiated its [[Operation Searchlight|military crackdown]].<ref name="D'Costa 2011 103"/> President Yahya Khan called on the military – which was overwhelmingly led by West Pakistanis – to suppress dissent in the East, after accepting the resignation of [[Lieutenant general|Lieutenant-General]] [[Sahabzada Yaqub Khan|Yaqub Ali Khan]], the chief of staff of the [[Bangladesh Armed Forces|East-Pakistani military]].<ref name="[[Economic and Political Weekly]]">{{cite journal |last=Bose |first=Sarmila |date=8 October 2005 |title=Anatomy of Violence: Analysis of Civil War in East Pakistan in 1971 |url=http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2005&leaf=10&filename=9223&filetype=html |journal=[[Economic and Political Weekly]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301084941/http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2005&leaf=10&filename=9223&filetype=html |archive-date=1 March 2007}}</ref><ref>Salik, Siddiq, [https://books.google.com/books?id=acVIPgAACAAJ ''Witness To Surrender''], {{ISBN|978-984-05-1373-4}}, pp. 63, 228–9.</ref>
During the war, Indian and Pakistani forces fought on the eastern and western fronts. The war effectively came to an end after the Eastern Command of the [[Pakistani Armed Forces]] signed the [[Instrument of Surrender|Instrument of Surrender (1971)]] on December 16, 1971.<ref>[http://www.subcontinent.com/1971war/surrender.html],</ref><ref>[http://sify.com/news/1971-war-i-will-give-you-30-minutes-news-columns-jmqlV0fcjja.html 1971 War: 'I will give you 30 minutes']. Sify.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-14.</ref> After the surrender, [[Bangladesh#History|East Pakistan]] seceded as the independent state of [[Bangladesh]]. Around 97,368 West Pakistanis who were in East Pakistan at the time of its independence, including some 79,700 Pakistan Army soldiers and paramilitary personnel<ref name="mosq-mill">{{cite book|last = Haqqani|first = Hussain|title = Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYppZ_dEjdIC&pg=PP1|year=2005|publisher = United Book Press|isbn = 0-87003-223-2}}, Chapter 3, pp 87.</ref> and 12,500 civilians,<ref name="mosq-mill" /> were taken as [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] by India.
==Western and Soviet involvement==
[[File:Blood telegram.png|right|The [[Blood Telegram]]|thumb]]


Mass arrests of dissidents began and, after several days of strikes and [[non-cooperation movement|non-cooperation]], the Pakistani military, led by Lieutenant-General [[Tikka Khan]], cracked down on Dhaka on the night of 25 March 1971. The government outlawed the Awami League, which forced many of its members and sympathisers into refuge in [[Eastern India]]. Mujib was arrested on the night of 25/26 March 1971 at about 1:30&nbsp;am (as per Radio Pakistan's news on 29 March 1971) and taken to West Pakistan. [[Operation Searchlight]], followed by [[Operation Barisal]], attempted to kill the intellectual elite of the east.<ref name="Riedel">{{cite book|last=Riedel|first=Bruce O.|title=Deadly Embrace: Pakistan, America, and the Future of the Global Jihad|url=https://archive.org/details/deadlyembracepak00bruc|url-access=limited|year=2011|publisher=Brookings Institution|isbn=978-0-8157-0557-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/deadlyembracepak00bruc/page/n27 10]}}</ref>
The Soviet Union sided with the Bangladeshis, and supported the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini during the war. The Soviets thought that the independence of Bangladesh would weaken the position of its rivals—the United States and China. The USSR gave assurances to India that if a confrontation with the United States or China developed, it would take counter-measures. This assurance was enshrined in the [[Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation|Indo-Soviet friendship treaty]] signed in August 1971.<ref name="theworldreporter.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.theworldreporter.com/2011/10/1971-india-pakistan-war-role-of-russia.html|title=1971 India Pakistan War: Role of Russia, China, America and Britain|work=The World Reporter|date=30 October 2011|publisher=|accessdate=2011-10-30}}</ref>


On 26 March 1971, Major [[Ziaur Rahman]] of Pakistan Army declared the independence of Bangladesh on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aONtAAAAMAAJ&q=announcement|title=Tragedy of Errors: East Pakistan Crisis, 1968–1971|first=Kamal|last=Matinuddin|date=27 October 1994|publisher=Wajidalis|isbn=9789698031190|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qh4NAAAAIAAJ&q=march+26|title=Pakistan's Crisis in Leadership|first=Fazal Muqueem|last=Khan|date=27 October 1973|publisher=National Book Foundation|isbn=978-0-88386-302-2}}</ref><ref name=Qureshi>{{cite book|last=Qureshi|first=Hakeem Arshad|title=Through the 1971 Crisis: An Eyewitness Account by a Soldier|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-579778-7|page=33}}</ref>
The United States supported Pakistan politically and with supplies. President [[Richard Nixon]] and his [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Henry Kissinger]] feared Soviet expansion into South and Southeast Asia.<ref>{{cite web|title = Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume E-7, Documents on South Asia, 1969–1972|url = http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/e7/48213.htm|publisher = [[US State Department]]|accessdate = 2009-10-20}}</ref> Pakistan was a close ally of the [[People's Republic of China]], with whom Nixon had been negotiating a [[Sino-American relations#Rapprochement|''rapprochement'']]. Nixon was planning to visit China in February 1972. Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of [[West Pakistan]] would give the Soviets control over the region. It would seriously undermine the global position of the United States and the regional position of America's new tacit ally, China. In order to demonstrate to China the ''bona fides'' of the United States as an ally, Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan, routing them through [[Jordan]] and [[Iran]],<ref name="Shalom">{{cite web|url=http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/issue47/articles/a07.htm|title=The Men Behind Yahya in the Indo-Pak War of 1971|author=Stephen R Shalom |publisher=|accessdate=2009-10-20}}</ref> while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan. The Nixon administration also ignored reports it received of the "genocidal" activities of the Pakistani Army in East Pakistan, most notably the [[Blood telegram]]. This prompted widespread criticism and condemnation both by Congress and in the international press.<ref name="uspol">{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878970,00.html|title=The U.S.: A Policy in Shambles|work=Time Magazine, 20 December 1971|publisher=|accessdate=2009-10-20|date=20 December 1971|archive-date=24 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824114059/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878970,00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pPjrpGUe7CEC|title = The flawed architect: Henry Kissinger and American foreign policy|last = Hanhimäki|first = Jussi|year = 2004|publisher = Oxford University Press|isbn = 978-0-19-517221-8}}</ref><ref name="lewisnyt">
"The Nixon Administration's South Asia policy... is beyond redemption.", wrote former USAID director John Lewis.
{{cite news
| url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30915FB3D5A137A93CBA91789D95F458785F9
| author = John P. Lewis
| work = New York Times
| date = 9 Dec 1971
| title = Mr. Nixon and South Asia}}</ref>
The United States introduced a resolution in the [[UN Security Council]] calling for a cease-fire and the withdrawal of armed forces by India and Pakistan. It was vetoed by the Soviet Union. In the following days Nixon and Kissinger tried to get India to withdraw, but they did not succeed.<ref>[http://www.rediff.com/news/2006/dec/26claude.htm 1971 War: How the US tried to corner India]. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-14.</ref>


In April, the exiled Awami League leaders formed a [[Provisional Government of Bangladesh|government-in-exile]] in [[Mujibnagar|Baidyanathtala]] of [[Meherpur]]. The [[East Pakistan Rifles]] and Bengali officers in Pakistan's [[Pakistan Army|army]], [[Pakistan Navy|navy]], and [[Pakistan Marines|marines]], [[Defector|defected]] to the rebellion after taking refuge in different parts of India. The Bangladesh Force, namely the [[Mukti Bahini]], consisting of Niyomito Bahini (Regular Force) and Oniyomito Bahini ([[Guerrilla warfare|Guerilla]] Force), was formed under the retired colonel [[MAG Osmani|Mohammad Ataul Gani Osmani]].<ref>Raja, Dewan Mohammad Tasawwar, ''O General My General&nbsp;– Life and Works of General M A G Osmany''; pp. 35–109, {{ISBN|978-984-8866-18-4}}</ref>
President Nixon requested Iran and Jordan to send their F-86, F-104 and F-5 fighter jets in aid of Pakistan.<ref name=Santosh>{{cite book
|last = Burne
|first = Lester H.
|title = Chronological History of U.S. Foreign Relations: 1932–1988
|publisher = Routledge, 2003
|isbn = 041593916X}}</ref>  


== India's involvement in Bangladesh Liberation War ==
When Pakistan's defeat in the eastern sector seemed certain, Nixon deployed a [[carrier battle group]] led by the aircraft carrier [[USS Enterprise (CVN-65)|USS ''Enterprise'']] into the [[Bay of Bengal]]. The ''Enterprise'' and its escort ships arrived on station on 11 December 1971. According to a Russian documentary, the United Kingdom deployed a carrier battle group led by the aircraft carrier [[HMS Eagle (R05)|HMS ''Eagle'']] to the Bay.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.frontierindia.net/british-aircraft-carrier-hms-eagle-tried-to-intervene-in-1971-india-pakistan-war |title=British aircraft carrier &#039;HMS Eagle&#039; tried to intervene in 1971 India - Pakistan war |access-date=2011-11-18 |archive-date=2016-01-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110154941/http://frontierindia.net/british-aircraft-carrier-hms-eagle-tried-to-intervene-in-1971-india-pakistan-war/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
{{Main|1971 East Pakistan genocide|Terrorism in Pakistan|Anti-Pakistan sentiment}}
After the resignations of Admiral [[Syed Mohammad Ahsan|S.M. Ahsan]] and Lieutenant-General Yaqub Ali Khan, the [[Media reporting team|media correspondents]] began airing reports of the Pakistani military's [[1971 East Pakistan genocide|widespread genocide]] against their Bengali citizens,<ref name="uspol">{{cite magazine |title=The U.S.: A Policy in Shambles |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878970,00.html |url-access=subscription |magazine=Time |date=20 December 1971 |access-date=20 October 2009}}</ref> particularly aimed at the minority [[Bengali Hindus|Bengali Hindu]] population,<ref name="usconsulate_cable_march31">U.S. Consulate (Dacca) Cable, Sitrep: [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB79/BEBB6.pdf Army Terror Campaign Continues in Dacca; Evidence Military Faces Some Difficulties Elsewhere], 31 March 1971, Confidential, 3 pp.</ref><ref name="time25Oct71">{{cite magazine |title=East Pakistan: Even the Skies Weep |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877316,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071104001659/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877316,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 November 2007 |url-access=subscription |magazine=Time |date=25 October 1971 |access-date=20 October 2009}}</ref><ref name="time27Dec1971" /> which led to approximately 10 million people seeking refuge in the neighbouring states of Eastern India.<ref name="usconsulate_cable_march31" /><ref name="uspol" /><ref name="MSN Encarta">{{cite encyclopaedia |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588350_3/Indo-Pakistani_Wars.html# |title=Indo-Pakistani Wars |work=MSN Encarta |access-date=20 October 2009 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5kwrHv6ph?url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588350_3/Indo-Pakistani_Wars.html |archive-date=1 November 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Indian government]] opened the [[Bangladesh–India border|East Pakistan–India border]] to allow the [[East Bengali refugees|Bengali refugees]] to find safe shelter; the governments of [[Government of West Bengal|West Bengal]], [[Government of Bihar|Bihar]], [[Government of Assam|Assam]], [[Government of Meghalaya|Meghalaya]] and [[Government of Tripura|Tripura]] established [[refugee camp]]s along the border.<ref name="Rotary International, 1971">{{cite book|last1=International|first1=Rotary|title=The Rotarian|date=1971|publisher=Rotary International|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rTUEAAAAMBAJ&q=east%20pakistan%20refugees%20Bengal%20Assam%20Tripura&pg=PA24|access-date=23 December 2016|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|23–24}} The resulting flood of impoverished East Pakistani refugees strained India's already overburdened economy.<ref name="time25Oct71" />


The [[Government of India|Indian government]] repeatedly appealed to the [[international community]] for assistance, but failed to elicit any response, despite the [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|External Affairs minister]] [[Swaran Singh]] meeting foreign ministers of other countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kashmirlive.com/latest/The-four-IndoPak-wars/73887.html|title=The four Indo-Pak wars|website=Kashmirlive, 14 September 2006|access-date=20 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091017021541/http://www.kashmirlive.com/latest/The-four-IndoPak-wars/73887.html|archive-date=17 October 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] on 27 March 1971 expressed full support of her government for the independence struggle of the people of East Pakistan, and concluded that instead of taking in millions of refugees, it was economical to go to war against Pakistan.<ref name="MSN Encarta" /> On 28 April 1971, the [[First Indira Gandhi ministry|Gandhi cabinet]] had ordered the [[Chief of the Army Staff (India)|Chief of the Army Staff]] General [[Sam Manekshaw]] to "Go into East Pakistan".<ref name="Praval">{{cite book |last=Pravel |first=K. C. |year=2009 |orig-year=First published 1987 |title=Indian Army After Independence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DdxDcxj_wn4C&pg=PP415 |location=Atlanta |publisher=Lancer Publishers |page=415 |isbn=978-1-935501-61-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bass |first=Gary J. |year=2013 |title=The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |page=94 |isbn=978-0-307-70020-9}}</ref><ref name="Raghavan" /> Defected East Pakistan military officers and the elements of Indian [[Research and Analysis Wing]] (RAW) immediately started using the Indian refugee camps for recruitment and training of Mukti Bahini [[guerrilla]]s that were to be trained against Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://im.rediff.com/news/2006/dec/14jacob.htm|title=I had to find troops for Dhaka |newspaper=Rediff News |date=14 December 2006|access-date=20 October 2009}}</ref>
On 6 December and 13 December, the [[Soviet Navy]] dispatched two groups of cruisers and destroyers and a submarine armed with nuclear missiles from [[Vladivostok]];<ref name="theworldreporter.com"/> they trailed U.S. Task Force 74 into the [[Indian Ocean]] from 18 December 1971 until 7 January 1972. The Soviets also had a nuclear submarine to help ward off the threat posed by USS ''Enterprise'' task force in the [[Indian Ocean]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/History/1971War/Games.html|title=Cold war games|work=Bharat Rakshak|publisher=|accessdate=2009-10-20|archive-date=2006-09-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060915093344/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/History/1971War/Games.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/birth-of-a-nation/552795/3 Birth of a nation]. Indianexpress.com (2009-12-11). Retrieved on 2011-04-14.</ref>


Indian authorities also attempted to carry on [[psychological warfare]] and keep up the morale of comrades in East Pakistan. The ''[[Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra]]'' (Free Bangladesh Radio Centre), which had broadcast Major Rahman's independence declaration, was relocated from [[Kalurghat]] in East Pakistan to India after the transmission building was [[Shell (projectile)|shelled]] by Pakistani [[North American F-86 Sabre|Sabre jets]] on 30 March 1971. It resumed broadcasts on 3 April from Tripura, aided by the Indian [[Border Security Force]]. The clandestine station was finally shifted to [[Kolkata]], where it was joined by a large number of Bangladeshi radio programmers, newscasters, poets, singers and journalists. Its jurisdiction was transferred to the provisional Bangladesh government-in-exile, and made its first broadcast on 25 May, the birth anniversary of poet [[Kazi Nazrul Islam]] (who would later be named Bangladesh's [[national poet]]). Among the Indian contributors to the radio station's nationalistic programmes was [[Salil Chowdhury]]. [[All India Radio|Akashvani Kolkata]] also actively took part in this effort.<ref>{{Cite news|last=[[Press Trust of India|PTI]]|date=25 May 2021|title=50 years on, B'desh remembers Kolkata radio station that gave them hope during liberation war|work=[[The New Indian Express]]|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2021/may/25/50-years-on-bdesh-remembers-kolkata-radio-station-that-gave-them-hope-during-liberation-war-2307457.html|access-date=4 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Dasgupta|first=Priyanka|date=29 November 2021|title=How a secret radio station broadcast hope in 1971|work=[[The Times of India]]|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/how-a-secret-radio-station-broadcast-hope-in-1971/articleshow/87964549.cms|access-date=4 December 2021}}</ref>
==References==
 
<references/>
The news media's mood in Pakistan had also turned increasingly [[jingoism|jingoistic]] and militaristic against East Pakistan and India when the Pakistani news media reported the complexity of the situation in the East, though the reactions from Pakistan's news media pundits were mixed.<ref name="The Express Tribune, Ahmad">{{cite news |last1=Ahmad |first1=Dawood |date=16 December 2011 |title=Rethinking the big lies from 1971 |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/307145/rethinking-the-big-lies-from-1971/ |work=The Express Tribune |access-date=23 December 2016}}</ref><ref name="Indian Express, 1971">{{cite news |last1=Ahmed |first1=Khalid |date=26 December 2013 |title=Pakistan,1971 |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/pakistan-1971-2/ |work=The Indian Express |access-date=23 December 2016}}</ref> By the end of September 1971, a [[propaganda]] campaign, possibly orchestrated by elements within the [[Government of Pakistan]], resulted in stickers endorsing "''Crush India''" becoming a standard feature on the rear windows of vehicles in [[Rawalpindi]], [[Islamabad]] and [[Lahore]]; this soon spread to the rest of West Pakistan.<ref name="Dawn newspaper, 2014"/> By October, other stickers proclaimed ''Hang the Traitor'' in an apparent reference to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.<ref name=usdos-embassycable>{{cite web|url=http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/pakistan/farland26oct1971.htm|title=New Twist In 'Crush India' Propaganda Campaign|publisher=US Department of State Telegram|date=26 October 1971|access-date=29 September 2011}}</ref> By the first week of December, the conservative [[Newspapers in Pakistan|print media]] outlets in the country had published ''[[jihad]]'' related materials to boost the recruitment in the military.<ref name="Dawn newspaper, 2014">{{cite news |title=1971 'Jihad': Print ads from West Pakistan |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1151200 |work=Dawn |date=16 December 2014 |type=Editorial |access-date=23 December 2016}}</ref>
{{authority control}}
 
[[Category:Wars involving India]]
== India's official engagement with Pakistan ==
 
=== Objective ===
[[File:Bangladesh 1971 Liberation.jpg|thumb|250px|An illustration showing military units and troop movements during operations in the Eastern sector of the war.]]
 
By the end of April 1971, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had asked the Indian Army chief General Sam Manekshaw if he was ready to go to war with Pakistan.<ref name="The Hindu, Sandeep">{{cite news|last1=Dikshit|first1=Sandeep|title=How he and his men won those wars|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/How-he-and-his-men-won-those-wars/article15250477.ece|access-date=24 December 2016|work=The Hindu|date=28 June 2008}}</ref><ref name="The Economist, 2008">{{cite magazine |title=Sam Manekshaw: Sam Manekshaw, soldier, died on 27 June, aged 94  |url=http://www.economist.com/node/11661408 |magazine=The Economist |date=3 July 2008 |page=107 |access-date=7 July 2008}}</ref> According to Manekshaw's own personal account, he refused, citing the onset of [[Monsoon in India|monsoon season]] in East Pakistan and also the fact that the army tanks were being refitted.<ref name="The Economist, 2008" /> He offered his resignation, which Gandhi declined.<ref name="The Economist, 2008" /> He then said he could guarantee victory if she would allow him to prepare for the conflict on his terms, and set a date for it; Gandhi accepted his conditions.<ref name="The Economist, 2008" /><ref name="Manekshaw">Manekshaw, SHFJ. (11 November 1998). "Lecture at Defence Services Staff College on Leadership and Discipline" (Appendix V) in Singh (2002)''Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, M.C. – Soldiering with Dignity''.</ref> In reality, Gandhi was well aware of the difficulties of a hasty military action, but she needed to get the military's views to satisfy her hawkish colleagues and the public opinion, which were critical of India's restraint.<ref name=Raghavan>{{citation |first=Srinath |last=Raghavan |year=2012 |title=Soldiers, Statesmen, and India's Security Policy |journal=India Review |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=116–133 |doi=10.1080/14736489.2012.674829|s2cid=154213504 }}</ref>
 
By November 1971, an Indian-Pakistani war seemed inevitable. The [[Soviet Union]] reportedly [[Rodionov message|warned Pakistan against the war]], which they termed as "suicidal course for Pakistan's unity."<ref name="Monitoring Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation" />{{rp|part-3}} Despite this warning, in November 1971, thousands of people led by conservative Pakistani politicians marched in Lahore and across Pakistan, calling for Pakistan to "crush India".<ref name="dos-crushindiamarch">{{cite web|url=http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/pakistan/lahore9nov1971.jpg|title=Anti-India Demonstration and Procession|publisher=US Department of State Telegram|date=9 November 1971|access-date=29 September 2011}}</ref><ref name="po-crushindia">{{cite news|url=http://www.docstrangelove.com/uploads/1971/po/19711130_po_crush_india.pdf|title=Crush India|work=Pakistan Observer|date=30 November 1971|access-date=29 September 2011}}</ref> India responded by starting a massive buildup of the Indian Army on the western borders; the army waited until December, when the drier ground in the East made for easier operations and the [[Himalayas|Himalayan]] passes were closed by snow, preventing any Chinese intervention.<ref name="ABC-CLIO, Mohiuddin">{{cite book|last1=Mohiuddin|first1=Yasmeen Niaz|title=Pakistan: A Global Studies Handbook|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-801-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OTMy0B9OZjAC&q=India%20China%201971%20himalayas%20december&pg=PA174|access-date=24 December 2016|language=en|year=2007}}</ref>{{rp|174–175}}  On 23 November, President Yahya Khan declared a national [[state of emergency]] and told the country to prepare for war.<ref name="WarChat">{{cite web|url=http://www.warchat.org/history-asia/indo-pakistani-war-of-1971.html|title=Indo-Pakistani War of 1971|access-date=20 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823055450/http://www.warchat.org/history-asia/indo-pakistani-war-of-1971.html|archive-date=23 August 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
On the evening of 3 December, at about 17:40,{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} the [[Pakistan Air Force]] (PAF) launched surprise pre-emptive strikes on eleven airfields in north-western India, including [[Agra]], which was {{convert|300|mi|km|order=flip}} from the border.<ref name="Bloomsbury Publishing, Davies">{{cite book|last1=Davies|first1=Peter E.|title=F-104 Starfighter Units in Combat|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-78096-314-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFebCwAAQBAJ&q=operation%20Chengiz%20Khan&pg=PA83|access-date=24 December 2016|language=en|date=2014-11-20}}</ref>{{rp|82–83}}  At the time of the attack, the [[Taj Mahal]] had been camouflaged with a forest of twigs and leaves and draped with burlap, because its marble glowed like a white beacon in the moonlight.<ref name="time20Dec71">{{cite magazine |title=Bangladesh: Out of War, a Nation Is Born |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878969,00.html |url-access=subscription |magazine=Time |date=20 December 1971 |access-date=20 October 2009}}</ref>
 
These pre-emptive strikes, known as [[Operation Chengiz Khan]], were inspired by the success of Israeli [[Operation Focus]] in the [[Arab]]–Israeli [[Six-Day War]].  Unlike the Israeli attack on Arab airbases in 1967, which involved a large number of Israeli planes, Pakistan flew no more than 50 planes to India.<ref name="Bloomsbury Publishing, Davies" />{{rp|82}}<ref>"Trying to catch the Indian Air Force napping, Yahya Khan, launched a Pakistani version of Israel's 1967 air blitz in hopes that one rapid attack would cripple India's far superior air power. But India was alert, Pakistani pilots were inept, and Yahya's strategy of scattering his thin air force over a dozen air fields was a bust!", p. 34, ''Newsweek'', 20 December 1971</ref>
 
In an address to the nation on radio that same evening, Prime Minister Gandhi held that the air strikes were a declaration of war against India<ref name="time13Dec1971">{{cite magazine |title=India and Pakistan: Over the Edge |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,910155,00.html |url-access=subscription |magazine=Time |date=13 December 1971 |access-date=20 October 2009}}</ref><ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/3/newsid_2519000/2519133.stm|title=1971: Pakistan intensifies air raids on India |work=BBC News |access-date=20 October 2009|date=3 December 1971}}</ref> and the [[Indian Air Force]] (IAF) responded with initial air strikes the same night.<ref name="glo" />  These expanded to massive retaliatory air strikes the next morning.<ref name="glo">{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/sqn-5.htm|title=Indian Air Force. Squadron 5, Tuskers|website=Global Security|access-date=20 October 2009}}</ref>
 
This air action marked the official{{Clarify|date=November 2020}} start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971; Gandhi ordered the immediate mobilisation of troops and launched a full-scale invasion of Pakistan.<ref name="Oxford University Press, Garver" />{{rp|333}}  This involved Indian forces in massive [[East Pakistan Air Operations, 1971|coordinated air]], sea and land assaults on Pakistan from all fronts.<ref name="Oxford University Press, Garver">{{cite book|last1=Garver|first1=John W.|title=China's Quest: The History of the Foreign Relations of the People's Republic of China|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-026106-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xvuuCgAAQBAJ&q=indian%20attack%20on%20pakistan%201971&pg=PA333|access-date=24 December 2016|language=en|date=2015-12-01}}</ref>{{rp|333}}  The main Indian objective on the Eastern front was to capture Dacca, and on the Western front was to prevent Pakistan from entering Indian soil.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}
 
=== Naval hostilities ===
{{main|Indo-Pakistani Naval War of 1971}}
[[File:Ussdiablo.jpg|thumb|250px|Pakistan's {{ship|PNS|Ghazi}} sank off the fairway [[buoy]] of [[Visakhapatnam]] near the eastern coast of India, making it the first submarine casualty in the waters around the [[Indian subcontinent]]. ]]
 
Unlike the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965|1965 war]], the [[NHQ (Pakistan Navy)|Navy NHQ]] staffers and commanders of the [[Pakistan Navy]] knew very well that the Navy was ill-prepared for the naval conflict with India.<ref name="Lancer's Publications and Distributors">{{cite book|last=Goldrick|first=James|title=No Easy Answers|year=1997|publisher=Lancer's Publications and Distributors|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-1-897829-02-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6XW7kKHQeQoC&pg=PA45}}</ref>{{rp|65}} The Pakistan Navy was in no condition of fighting an offensive war in deep sea against the [[Indian Navy]], and neither was it in a condition to mount serious defence against Indian Navy's seaborne encroachment.<ref name="Sona Printers, India">{{cite book|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/PIAMA02.pdf|title=No Easy Answers|last1=Goldrick|first1=James|date=1997|publisher=Sona Printers, India|isbn=1-897829-02-7|location=New Delhi, India|access-date=24 December 2016}}</ref>{{rp|75–76}}
 
In the western theatre of the war, the Indian Navy's [[Western Naval Command]] under [[Vice admiral]] [[Sourendra Nath Kohli|S.N. Kohli]], successfully launched a surprise attack on [[Port of Karachi|Karachi port]] on the night of 4/5 December 1971 under the codename [[Operation Trident (Indo-Pakistani War)|''Trident'']].<ref name="GlobalSecurity" /> The naval attack involving the [[Soviet Navy|Soviet]]-built [[Osa-class missile boat|Osa missile boats]] sank the Pakistan Navy's [[destroyer]] {{ship|PNS|Khaibar|1956|6}} and [[Minesweeper (ship)|minesweeper]] {{ship|PNS|Muhafiz}} while {{ship|PNS|Shah Jahan|DD-962|6}} was also badly damaged.<ref name="GlobalSecurity" /> Pakistani naval sources reported that about 720 Pakistani sailors were killed or wounded, and Pakistan lost reserve fuel and many commercial ships, thus crippling the Pakistan Navy's further involvement in the conflict.<ref name="Sona Printers, India" />{{rp|85–87}} In retaliation, the Pakistan Navy submarines, {{ship|PNS|Hangor|S131|2}}, ''Mangro'', and ''Shushuk'', began their operations to seek out the major Indian warships.<ref name="Sona Printers, India" />{{rp|86–95}}<ref>Seapower: A Guide for the Twenty-first Century By Geoffrey Till page 179</ref> On 9 December 1971, ''Hangor'' sank {{INS|Khukri|F149|6}}, inflicting 194 Indian casualties, and this attack was the first submarine kill since World War II.<ref name="Seaforth Publishing, Branfill-Cook">{{cite book|last1=Branfill-Cook|first1=Roger|title=Torpedo: The Complete History of the World's Most Revolutionary Naval Weapon|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|isbn=9781848322158|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9lquBQAAQBAJ&q=ins%20khukri%20world%20war%20II%20This%20was%20the%20first%20submarine%20kill%20since%20%5B%5BWorld%20War%20II%5D%5D&pg=PA229|access-date=24 December 2016|language=en|date=2014-08-27}}</ref>{{rp|229}}<ref name="bharat">{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/History/1971War/44-Attacks-On-Karachi.html |title=Trident, Grandslam and Python: Attacks on Karachi |website=Bharat Rakshak |access-date=20 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926174134/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/History/1971War/44-Attacks-On-Karachi.html |archive-date=26 September 2009 }}</ref>
 
The [[INS Khukri (F149)#Sinking|sinking of INS ''Khukri'']] was followed by another Indian attack on Karachi port on the night of 8/9 December 1971 under the codename [[Operation Python|''Python'']].<ref name="GlobalSecurity" /> A [[Squadron (naval)|squadron]] of Indian Navy's Osa missile boats approached the Karachi port and launched a series of Soviet-acquired [[P-15 Termit|Styx missiles]], that resulted in further destruction of reserve fuel tanks and the sinking of three Pakistani merchant ships, as well as foreign ships docked in Karachi.<ref name="Pakistan Defence, Usman">{{cite web|last1=Shabir|first1=Usman|title=The Second Missile Attack " PakDef Military Consortium|url=http://pakdef.org/the-second-missile-attack/|website=pakdef.org|publisher=Pakistan Defence, Usman|access-date=24 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224095638/http://pakdef.org/the-second-missile-attack/|archive-date=24 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Pakistan Air Force did not attack the Indian Navy ships, and confusion remained the next day when the civilian pilots of [[Pakistan International Airlines|Pakistan International]], acting as [[reconnaissance]] war pilots, misidentified {{ship|PNS|Zulfiqar|K265|6}} and the air force [[Friendly fire|attacked its own warship]], inflicting major damages and killing several officers on board.<ref name="defencejournal.com">{{cite web|url=http://defencejournal.com/may98/fightergap2.htm |title=Defence Notes |publisher=defencejournal.com |access-date=25 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120101020717/http://www.defencejournal.com/may98/fightergap2.htm |archive-date=1 January 2012 }}</ref>
 
In the eastern theatre of the war, the Indian [[Eastern Naval Command]], under Vice Admiral [[Nilakanta Krishnan]], completely isolated East Pakistan by a [[naval blockade]] in the [[Bay of Bengal]], trapping the Eastern Pakistan Navy and eight foreign merchant ships in their ports.<ref name="Sona Printers, India"/>{{rp|82–83}} From 4 December onwards, the aircraft carrier {{INS|Vikrant|R11|6}} was deployed, and its [[Hawker Sea Hawk|Sea Hawk]] fighter-bombers attacked many coastal towns in East Pakistan, including Chittagong and [[Cox's Bazar]].<ref name=Olsen>{{cite book|last=Olsen|first=John Andreas|title=Global Air Power|year=2011|publisher=Potomac Books|isbn=978-1-59797-680-0|page=237}}</ref> Pakistan countered the threat by sending the submarine {{ship|PNS|Ghazi}}, which [[Sinking of PNS Ghazi|sank]] off [[Visakhapatnam]]'s coast, due to an internal explosion, though whether this was triggered by Indian depth charges, diving to avoid them or some other reason has never been established.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/12/02/stories/2006120202090100.htm| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107165657/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/12/02/stories/2006120202090100.htm| url-status=dead| archive-date=7 November 2012|location=Chennai, India | work=[[The Hindu]]|title=Remembering our war heroes|date=2 December 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Does the US want war with India? |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jan/22inter.htm |work=Rediff.com |date=31 December 2004 |access-date=14 April 2011}}</ref>
 
Due to high number of defections, the Navy relied on deploying the [[Pakistan Marines]], led by [[Rear Admiral]] [[Leslie Mungavin]], where they had to conduct [[Riverine Warfare|riverine operations]] against the Indian Army, but they too suffered major losses, mainly due to their lack of understanding of [[expeditionary warfare]] and the [[Geography of Bangladesh|wet terrain]] of East Pakistan.<ref name="Global security, Marines">{{cite web|last1=Pike|first1=John|title=Pakistan Marines (PM)|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/pakistan/marines.htm |website=globalsecurity.org |publisher=Global security, Marines|access-date=24 December 2016}}</ref>
 
[[File:INS Vikrant (R11) launches an Alize aircraft during Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.jpg|thumbnail|Indian aircraft carrier {{INS|Vikrant|R11|6}} launches an [[Breguet Alizé|Alize aircraft]]]]
The damage inflicted on the Pakistan Navy stood at 7 [[gunboat]]s, 1 minesweeper, 1 submarine, 2 destroyers, 3 patrol crafts belonging to the [[coast guard]], 18 cargo, supply and communication vessels; and large-scale damage inflicted on the naval base and docks in the coastal town of Karachi. Three merchant navy ships&nbsp;– ''Anwar Baksh'', ''Pasni'' and ''Madhumathi''&nbsp;–<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irfc-nausena.nic.in/irfc/ezine/Trans2Trimph/chapters/39_transfer%20of%20ships1.htm |title=Utilisation of Pakistan merchant ships seized during the 1971 war |publisher=Irfc-nausena.nic.in |access-date=27 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301204938/http://www.irfc-nausena.nic.in/irfc/ezine/Trans2Trimph/chapters/39_transfer%20of%20ships1.htm |archive-date=1 March 2012}}</ref> and ten smaller vessels were captured.<ref name=Orbat>{{cite web|title=Damage {{sic|Asse|sment|nolink=y}} – 1971 Indo-Pak Naval War |website=B. Harry |url=http://www.orbat.com/site/cimh/navy/kills(1971)-2.pdf |access-date=20 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100508210258/http://orbat.com/site/cimh/navy/kills%281971%29-2.pdf |archive-date=8 May 2010}}</ref> Around 1900 personnel were lost, while 1413 servicemen were captured by Indian forces in Dacca.<ref name="losses">{{cite web|title=Military Losses in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War |website=Venik |url=http://www.aeronautics.ru/archive/vif2_project/indo_pak_war_1971.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020225045411/http://www.aeronautics.ru/archive/vif2_project/indo_pak_war_1971.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 February 2002 |access-date=30 May 2005}}</ref> According to one Pakistani scholar, [[Tariq Ali]], Pakistan lost half its navy in the war.<ref name="Ali1983">{{cite book |author=Tariq Ali |author-link=Tariq Ali |year=1983 |title=Can Pakistan Survive? The Death of a State |publisher=Penguin Books |page=95 |isbn=978-0-14-022401-6 |quote=In a two-week war, Pakistan lost half its navy, a quarter of its air force and a third of its army.}}</ref>
 
=== Air operations ===
{{main|East Pakistan Air Operations, 1971}}
[[File:Mig21 pair during 1971 war.jpg|thumb|Indian Air Force [[MiG-21]]s during the war.]]
After the attempted pre-emptive attack, the PAF adopted a defensive stance in response to the Indian retaliation.  As the war progressed, the IAF continued to battle the PAF over conflict zones, but the number of sorties flown by the PAF decreased day–by–day.<ref>Jon Lake, "Air Power Analysis: Indian Airpower", ''World Air Power Journal'', Volume 12</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Group Captain M. Kaiser Tufail, "Great Battles of the Pakistan Airforce" and "Pakistan Air Force Combat Heritage" (pafcombat) et al., Feroze sons, {{ISBN|969-0-01892-2}}</ref>  The IAF flew 4,000 sorties while the PAF offered little in retaliation, partly because of the paucity of non-Bengali technical personnel.<ref name="GlobalSecurity" />
 
This lack of retaliation has also been attributed to the deliberate decision of the PAF's [[AHQ (Pakistan Air Force)|AHQ]] to cut its losses, as it had already incurred huge losses in the conflict in the liberation war in the East.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+in0189)|title=Indo-Pakistani conflict|work=Library of Congress Country Studies|access-date=20 October 2009}}</ref>  The PAF avoided making contacts with the Indian Navy after the latter raided the port of Karachi twice, but the PAF did retaliate by bombing [[Okha, India|Okha]] harbour, destroying the fuel tanks used by the boats that had attacked.<ref name="globalsecurity.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/pakistan/air-force-combat.htm |title=Pakistan Air Force Combat Experience |publisher=Globalsecurity.org |access-date=27 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.paffalcons.com/gallery/aviation-art/syed-hussaini/trauma-and-reconstruction.php|title=Picture Gallery&nbsp;– Aviation Art by Group Captain Syed Masood Akhtar Hussaini|publisher=PAF Falcons|access-date=27 July 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830105254/http://www.paffalcons.com/gallery/aviation-art/syed-hussaini/trauma-and-reconstruction.php|archive-date=30 August 2011}}</ref>
 
In the east, [[List of Pakistan Air Force squadrons|No. 14 Squadron]] ("Tail Choppers") was destroyed and its CO, [[Squadron Leader]] [[Parvaiz Mehdi Qureshi|PQ Mehdi]], was taken [[Prisoner of War|POW]], putting Pakistan's air command in Dhaka out of commission. India thereby achieved total [[air superiority]] on the eastern front.<ref name="GlobalSecurity" />
 
At the end of the war, PAF pilots made successful escapes from East Pakistan to neighbouring [[Myanmar|Burma]]; many PAF personnel had already left the East for Burma on their own before Dacca was overrun by the Indian military in December 1971.<ref name="Defence Journal, 2001">{{cite web|last1=Khan|first1=Sher|title=Last Flight from East Pakistan|url=http://www.defencejournal.com/2001/feb/last-flight.htm |website=defencejournal.com |access-date=24 December 2016}}</ref>
 
===Indian attacks on Pakistan===
[[File:PAF hangar at Dacca airfield after an air attack by the IAF, Dec 71.jpg|thumb|A destroyed aircraft hangar at Dacca airfield after an Indian air attack.]]
As the Indian Army tightened its grip in East Pakistan, the Indian Air Force continued with its attacks against Pakistan as the campaign developed into a series of daylight anti-airfield, anti-radar, and close-support attacks by fighter jets, with night attacks against airfields and strategic targets by [[English Electric Canberra|Canberras]] and [[Antonov An-12|An-12s]], while Pakistan responded with similar night attacks with its [[Martin B-57 Canberra|B-57s]] and [[Lockheed C-130 Hercules|C-130s]].<ref name="Pen and Sword, Bowman">{{cite book|last1=Bowman|first1=Martin|title=Cold War Jet Combat: Air-to-Air Jet Fighter Operations 1950–1972|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=9781473874633|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QleqCwAAQBAJ&q=While%20India's%20grip%20on%20what%20had%20been%20East%20Pakistan%20tightened%2C%20the%20IAF%20continued%20to%20press%20home%20attacks%20against%20Pakistan&pg=PA107|access-date=24 December 2016|language=en|date=2016-01-30}}</ref>{{rp|107–108}}
 
The PAF deployed its [[Shenyang J-6|F-6s]] mainly on defensive [[combat air patrol]] missions over their own bases, leaving the PAF unable to conduct effective offensive operations.<ref name="Pen and Sword, Bowman"/>{{rp|107}} The IAF's raids damaged one [[United States Air Force|USAF]] and one [[United Nations|UN]] aircraft in Dacca, while a [[Royal Canadian Air Force|RCAF]] [[de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou|DHC-4 Caribou]] was destroyed in [[Islamabad]], along with the USAF's [[Beechcraft L-23 Seminole|Beech U-8]] owned by the [[United States military|US military]]'s liaison chief [[Brigadier-General]] [[Chuck Yeager]].<ref name="Pen and Sword, Bowman"/>{{rp|107}}<ref name="Russia & India Report">{{cite web|last1=Simha|first1=Rakesh Krishnan|title=How India brought down the US' supersonic man|url=http://in.rbth.com/articles/2012/01/17/how_india_brought_down_the_us_supersonic_man_14208|website=Russia & India Report|publisher=Russia & India Report|access-date=24 December 2016|date=17 January 2012}}</ref> Sporadic raids by the IAF continued against PAF forward air bases in Pakistan until the end of the war, and interdiction and close-support operations were maintained.<ref name="Pen and Sword, Bowman"/>{{rp|107–108}}
 
One of the most successful air raids by India into West Pakistan happened on 8 December 1971, when Indian Hunter aircraft from the [[Pathankot Air Force Station|Pathankot]]-based 20 Squadron, attacked the Pakistani base in [[PAF Base Murid|Murid]] and destroyed 5 [[North American F-86 Sabre|F-86]] aircraft on the ground. This was confirmed by Pakistan's military historian, Air Commodore [[Kaiser Tufail|M Kaiser Tufail]], in his book ''In The Ring and on Its Feet: Pakistan Air Force in the 1971 Indo-Pak War''.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Vishnu Som|title=Exclusive Details of How Air Force Raided A Pak Air Base|url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/exclusive-details-of-how-air-force-raided-a-pak-air-base-destroyed-jets-1803601|publisher=NDTV|access-date=25 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125034821/https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/exclusive-details-of-how-air-force-raided-a-pak-air-base-destroyed-jets-1803601|archive-date=25 January 2018}}</ref>
 
The PAF played a more limited role in the operations. They were reinforced by [[Mirage III|Mirages]] from an unidentified [[Middle East]]ern ally (whose identity remains unknown).<ref name="Pen and Sword, Bowman"/>{{rp|107}} According to author Martin Bowman, "[[Libya]]n [[Northrop F-5|F-5s]] were reportedly deployed to [[Sargodha Airbase|Sargodha AFB]], perhaps as a potential training unit to prepare Pakistani pilots for an influx of more F-5s from Saudi Arabia."<ref name="Pen and Sword, Bowman"/>{{rp|112}} The IAF was able to conduct a wide range of missions – troop support; air combat; deep penetration strikes; para-dropping behind enemy lines; feints to draw enemy fighters away from the actual target; bombing and reconnaissance.<ref name="Pen and Sword, Bowman"/>{{rp|107}} The PAF, which was solely focused on air combat, was blown out of the subcontinent's skies within the first week of the war.<ref name="Pen and Sword, Bowman"/>{{rp|107}} Those PAF aircraft that survived took refuge at [[Iran]]ian air bases or in concrete bunkers, refusing to offer a fight.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rbth.com/blogs/2015/06/04/why_the_indian_air_force_has_a_high_crash_rate_43501|title=Why the Indian Air Force has a high crash rate|first=Rakesh Krishnan|last=Simha|date=4 June 2015|website=www.rbth.com}}</ref>
 
India flew 1,978 sorties in the East and about 4,000 in Pakistan, while the PAF flew about 30 and 2,840 at the respective fronts.<ref name="Pen and Sword, Bowman"/>{{rp|107}}  More than 80 percent of IAF sorties were close-support and interdiction and about 45 IAF aircraft were lost.<ref name="Leonard2006p806" />
 
Pakistan lost 60 to 75 aircraft,<ref name="Leonard2006p806" /> not including any F-6s, Mirage IIIs, or the six Jordanian F-104s which failed to return to their donors.<ref name="Leonard2006p806" /> The imbalance in air losses was explained by the IAF's considerably higher sortie rate and its emphasis on ground-attack missions.<ref name="Leonard2006p806" />
 
=== Ground operations ===
[[File:T-55 tanks in the Bangladesh Liberation War.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Indian Army Armoured Corps|Indian T-55]] tanks penetrating the [[India-East Pakistan border|Indo-East Pakistan border]] towards [[Dacca]].]]
[[File:Tank - 55.jpg|thumb|Tank-55 now at National War Memorial in Pune]]
 
Before the start of the war, the Indian Army was well organised on both fronts and enjoyed significant numerical superiority over the Pakistan Army.<ref name="ABC-CLIO, Heo and Jr.">{{cite book|last1=Jr|first1=Karl DeRouen|last2=Heo|first2=Uk|title=Civil Wars of the World: Major Conflicts Since World War II|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781851099191|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nrN077AEgzMC&q=pakistan%20army%201971%20India&pg=PA596|access-date=24 December 2016|language=en|date=2007-05-10}}</ref>{{rp|596}}  The Indian Army's extraordinary war performance at both fronts restored the prestige, confidence, and dignity that it had lost during the [[Sino-Indian War]] in 1962.<ref name="Hindustan Times, 2008">{{cite news |last1=Singh |first1=Dipender |date=27 June 2008 |title=Sam gave dignity to Army in 1971, after 1962 debacle|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/sam-gave-dignity-to-army-in-1971-after-1962-debacle/story-s3usXYBVqUlgYGYqbFrSIO.html |work=Hindustan Times |access-date=26 December 2016}}</ref>
 
When the conflict started, the war immediately took a decisive turn in favour of India and their [[Mukti Bahini|Bengali rebel allies]] militarily and diplomatically.<ref name="ABC-CLIO, Heo and Jr."/>{{rp|596}} On both fronts, Pakistan launched several ground offensives, but the Indian Army held its ground and initiated well-coordinated ground operations on both fronts.<ref name="ABC-CLIO, Heo and Jr."/>{{rp|596}} Major ground attacks were concentrated on the western border by the Pakistan Army, fighting together with the Pakistan Marines in the [[Punjab|southern border]], but the Indian Army was successful in penetrating into Pakistani soil. It eventually made some quick and initial gains, including the capture of around {{convert|5795|sqmi|km2|order=flip|abbr=on}}<ref name="Shuja Nawaz 2008"/><ref name="books.google.com"/> of Pakistani territory; this land gained by India in [[Azad Kashmir]], [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] and [[Sindh]] sectors was later ceded in the [[Simla Agreement]] of 1972, as a gesture of goodwill<ref name="https"/> Casualties inflicted to Pakistan Army's [[I Corps (Pakistan)|I Corps]], [[II Corps (Pakistan)|II Corps]], and Pakistan Marines' [[Pakistan Navy Punjab Command|Punjab detachment]] were very high, and many soldiers and marines perished due to lack of operational planning and lack of coordination within the marine-army formations against Indian Army's [[Southern Command (India)|Southern]] and [[Western Command (India)|Western Commands]].<ref name="Lancer Publishers, Palit">{{cite book|last1=Palit|first1=Maj Gen DK|title=The Lightning Campaign: The Indo-Pakistan War, 1971|publisher=Lancer Publishers|isbn=9781897829370|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PKvmgfHewHcC&pg=PA83|access-date=24 December 2016|language=en|date=2012-10-10}}</ref>{{rp|82–93}} By the time the war came to end, the army soldiers and marines were highly demoralised– both emotionally and psychologically– on the [[India-Pakistan border|western front]] and had no [[Will (philosophy)|will]] to put up a defensive fight against the approaching Indian Army soldiers.<ref name="ABC-CLIO, Hasn't">{{cite book|last1=Hasnat|first1=Syed Farooq|title=Pakistan|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313346972|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yeqwIs_NoTEC&q=pakistan%20army%20demoralized%201971&pg=PA2|access-date=24 December 2016|language=en|year=2011}}</ref>{{rp|1–2}}
 
The War Enquiry Commission later exposed the fact that for the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Marines, the arms and training of marines, soldiers and officers were needed at every level, and every level of command.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Alam|first1=Dr Shah|title=Pakistan Army: Modernisation, Arms Procurement and Capacity Building|publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd|isbn=9789381411797|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WvapCQAAQBAJ&q=pakistan%20army%201971%20India&pg=PT40|language=en|date=2012-06-12}}</ref>
 
On 23 November 1971, the Indian Army conventionally penetrated to the eastern fronts and crossed East Pakistan's borders to join their [[Mitro Bahini|Bengali nationalist]] allies.<ref name="Pustak Mahal, Nair">{{cite book|last1=Nair|first1=Sreekumar|title=Interpretation|publisher=Pustak Mahal|isbn=9788122311112|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9gdHmR_6K0AC&q=1965%20war%20which%20had%20emphasised%20set-piece%20battles&pg=PA156|access-date=24 December 2016|language=en|date=2010-03-01}}</ref>{{rp|156}} Contrary to the [[Indo-Pakistani war of 1965|1965 war]], which had emphasised set-piece battles and slow advances, this time the strategy adopted was a swift, three-pronged assault of nine infantry divisions with attached armoured units and close air support that rapidly converged on Dacca, the capital of East Pakistan.<ref name="Pustak Mahal, Nair"/>{{rp|156}} Lieutenant General [[Jagjit Singh Aurora]], the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Indian Army's [[Eastern Command (India)|Eastern Command]], led the full Indian thrust into East Pakistan. As the Indian Eastern Command attacked the [[Pakistan Eastern Command]], the Indian Air Force rapidly destroyed the small air contingent in East Pakistan and put the Dacca airfield out of commission.<ref name="Pustak Mahal, Nair"/>{{rp|156}}  In the meantime, the Indian Navy effectively blockaded East Pakistan.<ref name="Pustak Mahal, Nair"/>{{rp|156}}
 
The Indian campaign's "''[[blitzkrieg]]''" techniques exploited weaknesses in the Pakistani positions and bypassed opposition; this resulted in a swift victory.<ref name="Oxford University Press, Paret">{{cite book|last=Paret|first=Peter|author2=Gordon A. Craig |author3=Felix Gilbert |title=Makers of Modern Strategy: From Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F0N59g93EBYC|year=1986|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-820097-0}}, pp802</ref>{{rp|802}} Faced with insurmountable losses, the Pakistani military capitulated in less than a fortnight and psychological panic spread in the Eastern Command's military leadership.<ref name="Oxford University Press, Paret"/>{{rp|802}} Subsequently, the Indian Army encircled Dacca and issued an ultimatum to surrender in "30-minutes" time window on 16 December 1971.<ref name="Sify, Sengupta">{{cite web|last1=Sengupta|first1=Ramananda|title=1971 War: 'I will give you 30 minutes'|url=http://www.sify.com/news/1971-war-i-will-give-you-30-minutes-news-columns-jmqlV0fcjjasi.html|website=Sify|publisher=Sify, Sengupta|access-date=24 December 2016}}</ref> Upon hearing the ultimatum, the [[Government of East Pakistan|East-Pakistan government]] collapsed when the Lt-Gen. [[Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi|A.A.K. Niazi]] (Cdr. of [[East Pakistan Military Command|Eastern Command]]) and his deputy, V-Adm. [[Mohammad Shariff|M.S. Khan]], surrendered without offering any resistance.<ref name="Pustak Mahal, Nair"/> On 16 December 1971, Pakistan ultimately called for unilateral ceasefire and surrendered its entire four-tier military to the Indian Army– hence ending the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971.<ref name="Pustak Mahal, Nair"/>
 
On the ground, Pakistan suffered the most, with 8,000 killed and 25,000 wounded, while India only had 3,000 dead and 12,000 wounded.<ref name="Century Air Warfare 1997, pages 384"/> The loss of [[Vehicle armour|armoured vehicles]] was similarly imbalanced and this finally represented a major defeat for Pakistan.<ref name="Century Air Warfare 1997, pages 384" />
 
=== Surrender of Pakistan Eastern Command in East Pakistan ===
{{main|Instrument of Surrender (1971)|East Pakistan Military Command}}
 
Officially, the [[Pakistani Instrument of Surrender|Instrument of Surrender of Pakistan Eastern Command stationed in East Pakistan]], was signed between the Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, the GOC-in-C of Indian Eastern Command and Lieutenant-General A.A.K. Niazi, the Commander of the Pakistan Eastern Command, at the [[Ramna Race Course]] in Dacca at 16:31Hrs [[Indian Standard Time|IST]] on 16 December 1971.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} There was a problem over who would represent the Bangladesh government, as the three Bangladeshi [[battalion]] commanders - [[Lieutenant colonel|Lt Cols]] [[K. M. Shafiullah|Shafiullah]], [[Khaled Mosharraf|Khaled Musharraf]] and Ziaur Rahman - were located too far away to be airlifted on time. The responsibility fell on the only armed forces officer available, Gp Capt [[A. K. Khandker|AK Khondkar]], chief of the newly formed [[Bangladesh Air Force|BAF]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=TNN|date=15 December 1971|title=1971 war: When Indian officers rescued Pakistan general from a lynch mob|work=[[The Times of India]]|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/when-indian-officers-rescued-pakistan-general-from-a-lynch-mob/articleshow/88291018.cms|access-date=22 December 2021}}</ref> As the [[Surrender (military)|surrender]] was accepted silently by Lieutenant-General Aurora, the surrounding crowds on the race course started shouting [[Anti-Pakistan sentiment|anti-Pakistan]] slogans, and there were reports of abuses aimed at the surrendering commanders of Pakistani military.<ref>{{cite news|last=Nayar |first=Kuldip |date=3 February 1998 |title=Of betrayal and bungling |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19980203/03450744.html |newspaper=The Indian Express |access-date=20 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823045047/http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19980203/03450744.html |archive-date=23 August 2009 }}</ref> Indian officers and an Indian diplomat, [[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|MEA]] [[Joint secretary to the Government of India|joint secretary]] for Pakistan AK Ray, had to form a [[Human chain (politics)|human chain]] around Lt Gen Niazi to protect him from being [[Lynching|lynched]].<ref name=":2"/>
 
Hostilities officially ended at 14:30 [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]] on 17 December, after the surrender on 16 December, and India claimed large gains of territory in Pakistan (although pre-war boundaries were recognised after the war). The war confirmed the independence of [[Bangladesh]].<ref name="Pen and Sword, Bowman" />{{rp|107}}
 
Following the surrender, the Indian Army took approximately 90,000 Pakistani servicemen and their Bengali supporters as [[prisoners of war|POWs]], making it the largest surrender since [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Vijay Diwas: All you need to know about 1971 war with Pakistan {{!}} India News |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/vijay-diwas-all-you-need-to-know-about-1971-war-with-pakistan/articleshow/79751734.cms|access-date=2021-11-26|work=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref> Initial counts recorded that approximately 79,676 war prisoners were uniformed personnel, and the overwhelming majority of the war prisoners were officers – most of them from the army and navy, while relatively small numbers were from the air force and marines; others in larger number were serving in the [[Paramilitary forces of Pakistan|paramilitary]].<ref name="Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. Cloughley">{{cite book|last1=Cloughley|first1=Brian|title=A History of the Pakistan Army: Wars and Insurrections|date=2016|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.|isbn=9781631440397|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JE1kCwAAQBAJ&q=Pakistani%20Prisoners%20of%20War%20%20Indian%20army&pg=PT280|access-date=8 August 2017|language=en}}</ref>
 
The remaining prisoners were civilians who were either family members of the military personnel or collaborators ([[Razakars (Pakistan)|razakars]]). The [[Hamoodur Rahman Commission]] and the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Prisoners of War Investigation|POW Investigation Commission]] reports instituted by Pakistan lists the Pakistani POWs as given in the table below.  Apart from soldiers, it was estimated that 15,000 Bengali civilians were also made prisoners of war.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nuYcwYCcjpIC&q=many%20pakistani%20women%20prisoners%20of%20war%20in%201971&pg=PA216|title=Mainsprings of Indian and Pakistani Foreign Policies|access-date=27 July 2012|isbn=9780816607204|last1=Burke|first1=S. M.|date=1974}}</ref>
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Inter-service branch !! Number of captured Pakistani POWs !! Officer commanding
|-
| {{army|PAK}} || 54,154 || [[Lieutenant-General]] [[Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi]]
|-
| [[File:Naval Jack of Pakistan.svg|20px]] [[Pakistan Navy]]/[[Pakistan Marines]] || 1,381 || [[Rear-Admiral]] [[Mohammad Shariff]]
|-
| {{Air force|PAK}} || 833 || [[Air Commodore]] [[Inamul Haque Khan|Inamul Haq]]
|-
|[[Paramilitary forces of Pakistan|Paramilitary]]/[[East Pakistan Rifles]]/[[East Pakistan Police|Police]] || 22,000 || [[Major-General]] [[Rao Farman Ali]]
|-
|[[Government of East Pakistan|Civil government personnel]] || 12,000 || [[Governor of East Pakistan|Governor]] [[Abdul Motaleb Malik]]
|-
| Total: || 90,368 || ~
|}
 
== Foreign reaction and involvement ==
 
=== United States and Soviet Union ===
[[File:Blood telegram.png|The [[Blood Telegram]]|thumb]]
 
The [[Soviet Union]] sympathised with the [[East Pakistanis]], and supported the Indian Army and [[Mukti Bahini]]'s incursion against Pakistan during the war, in a broader view of recognising that the [[Independence of Bangladesh|succession]] of East Pakistan as [[People's Republic of Bangladesh|Independent Bangladesh]] would weaken the position of its rivals— the United States and China. The Soviet Union gave assurances to India that if a confrontation with the United States or China developed, it would take counter-measures. This assurance was enshrined in the [[Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation]] signed in August 1971.<ref name="theworldreporter.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.theworldreporter.com/2011/10/1971-india-pakistan-war-role-of-russia.html |title=1971 India Pakistan War: Role of Russia, China, America and Britain |website=The World Reporter |date=30 October 2011 |access-date=30 October 2011}}</ref>
 
The Soviet Union accepted the Indian position that any resolution to the crisis in East Pakistan would have to be on terms acceptable to India and the Awami League, but the Indo-Soviet treaty did not mean a total commitment to the Indian stance, according to author [[Robert Jackson (Wantage MP)|Robert Jackson]]. The Soviet Union continued economic aid to Pakistan and made sympathetic gestures to Pakistan until mid-October 1971.<ref name="Jackson1975">{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Robert |author-link=Robert Jackson (Wantage MP) |year=1975 |title=South Asian Crisis: India — Pakistan — Bangla Desh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tb6vCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA72 |publisher=Chatto & Windus |pages=72–73 |isbn=978-1-349-04163-3}}</ref> By November 1971, the [[Ambassador of the Soviet Union to Pakistan|Soviet ambassador]] to Pakistan [[Aleksei A. Rodionov|Alexei Rodionov]] directed a secretive message (''[[Rodionov message]]'') that ultimately warned Pakistan that "it will be embarking on a suicidal course if it escalates tensions in the subcontinent".<ref name="Monitoring Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation">{{cite book |title=Summary of World Broadcasts: Far East|date=1971|publisher=Monitoring Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation|location=London, UK|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ETRAAAAMAAJ&q=rodionov|access-date=22 December 2016|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|part-3}}
 
The [[United States]] stood with Pakistan by supporting it morally, politically, economically and materially when [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Richard Nixon]] and his [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Henry Kissinger]] refused to use rhetoric in a hopeless attempt to intervene in a large [[civil war]]. The U.S. establishment had the impression that the Soviets were in an informal alliance with India, and the US therefore needed Pakistan to help to limit Soviet [[Great Game|influence in South Asia]].<ref name="Lancer Publishers, Cheema"/>{{rp|281}} During the [[Cold War (1953–62)|Cold War]], Pakistan was a close [[CENTO|formal ally]] of the United States and also had [[China–Pakistan relations|close relations]] with the [[People's Republic of China]], with whom Nixon had been negotiating a [[Sino-American relations#Rapprochement|''rapprochement'']] and where he [[Nixon visit to China|intended to visit]] in February 1972.<ref>Harold H. Saunders, "What Really Happened in Bangladesh" Foreign Affairs (2014) 93#4 d</ref> Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of Pakistan would mean total Soviet domination of the region, and that it would seriously undermine the [[Balance of power (international relations)|global position]] of the United States and the regional position of America's new tactical ally, China.<ref name="Lancer Publishers, Cheema">{{cite book|last1=VSM|first1=Brig Amar Cheema|title=The Crimson Chinar: The Kashmir Conflict: A Politico Military Perspective|publisher=Lancer Publishers|isbn=9788170623014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qc25BwAAQBAJ&q=Nixon%20encourage%20iran%20%201971%20war%20pakistan&pg=PA282|access-date=27 December 2016|language=en|date=2015-03-31}}</ref>{{rp|281–282}} Nixon encouraged [[Jordan]] and [[Iran]] to send military supplies to Pakistan, while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan, but all supplies were very limited.<ref name="Oxford University Press, Alvandi">{{cite book|last1=Alvandi|first1=Roham|title=Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah: The United States and Iran in the Cold War|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780190610685|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJLSDAAAQBAJ&q=Nixon%20encourage%20iran%20%201971%20war%20pakistan&pg=PA61|access-date=27 December 2016|language=en|date=November 2016}}</ref>{{rp|61}} The Nixon administration also ignored reports it received of the "genocidal" activities of the Pakistani military in East Pakistan, most notably the [[Blood telegram]], and this prompted widespread criticism and condemnation – both by the [[United States Congress]] and in the international press.<ref name="uspol" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Hanhimäki|first=Jussi|title=The flawed architect: Henry Kissinger and American foreign policy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pPjrpGUe7CEC|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-517221-8}}</ref><ref name="lewisnyt">{{cite news |last=Lewis |first=John P. |date=9 December 1971 |title=Mr. Nixon and South Asia |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/09/archives/mr-nixon-and-south-asia.html |newspaper=The New York Times |quote=The Nixon Administration's South Asia policy... is beyond redemption}}</ref>
 
Then [[United States Ambassador to the United Nations|U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations]], [[George H.W. Bush]], introduced a resolution in the [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]] calling for a cease-fire and the withdrawal of armed forces by India and Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nixontapes.org/presidents.html|title=President Richard Nixon and the Presidents|website=nixontapes.org|quote=WHT 016-048 12/08/1971 11:06 – 11:14 am P, GHWB}}[https://www.nixontapes.org/ghwb/016-048.pdf]</ref> However, it was [[United Nations Security Council veto power|vetoed]] by the Soviet Union, and the following days witnessed the use of great pressure on the Soviets from the Nixon-Kissinger duo to get India to withdraw, but to no avail.<ref>{{cite news |date=26 December 2006 |title=1971 War: How the US tried to corner India |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2006/dec/26claude.htm |work=Rediff.com |access-date=14 April 2011}}</ref>
 
When Pakistan's defeat in the eastern sector seemed certain, Nixon deployed [[Task Force 74]], led by the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Enterprise|CVN-65|6}}, into the [[Bay of Bengal]]. ''Enterprise'' and its escort ships arrived on station on 11 December 1971.<ref name="Routledge, Mishra">{{cite book |last1=Rajagopalan |first1=Rajesh |last2=Mishra |first2=Atul |year=2015 |title=Nuclear South Asia: Keywords and Concepts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p8BcCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT207 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-32475-1}}</ref>{{rp|xxxx}} According to a Russian documentary, the [[United Kingdom]] also deployed a carrier battle group led by the aircraft carrier {{HMS|Eagle|R05|6}} to the Bay,<ref name="theworldreporter.com" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.frontierindia.net/british-aircraft-carrier-hms-eagle-tried-to-intervene-in-1971-india-pakistan-war |title=British aircraft carrier 'HMS Eagle' tried to intervene in 1971 India – Pakistan war |website=Frontier India |date=18 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110154941/http://frontierindia.net/british-aircraft-carrier-hms-eagle-tried-to-intervene-in-1971-india-pakistan-war/ |archive-date=10 January 2016 |access-date=27 July 2012}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=citations are to an "open online students' journal" (TheWorldReporter) and a blog (Frontier India) repeating some guy's translation of a Russian-language video, there must be a scholarly history book or contemporary news report for this|date=April 2016}} on her final deployment.
 
On 6 and 13 December, the [[Soviet Navy]] dispatched two groups of [[cruiser]]s and [[destroyer]]s from [[Vladivostok]];<ref name="theworldreporter.com" /> they trailed US Task Force 74 into the Indian Ocean from 18 December 1971 until 7 January 1972. The Soviets also had a [[Ballistic missile submarine|nuclear submarine]] to help ward off the threat posed by the USS ''Enterprise'' task force in the Indian Ocean.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />
 
As the war progressed, it became apparent to the United States that India was going to invade and disintegrate Pakistan in a matter of weeks, therefore President Nixon spoke with the [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|USSR General Secretary]] [[Leonid Brezhnev]] on a [[Moscow–Washington hotline|hotline]] on 10 December, where Nixon reportedly urged Brezhnev to restrain India as he quoted: "in the strongest possible terms to restrain India with which ... you [Brezhnev] have great influence and for whose actions you must share responsibility."<ref name="George Washington University press">{{cite web|title=Nixon/Kissinger Saw India as "Soviet Stooge" in 1971 South Asia Crisis|url=http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/news/20050629/|website=nsarchive.gwu.edu|publisher=George Washington University press|access-date=24 December 2016}}</ref>
 
After the war, the United States accepted the new [[Balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]] and recognised India as a dominant player in South Asia; the US immediately engaged in strengthening [[Indo-US Relations|bilateral relations between the two countries]] in the successive years.<ref name="Springer, Watering">{{cite book |last1=Wetering |first1=Carina |year=2016 |title=Changing US Foreign Policy toward India |publisher=Springer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iYtjDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA69 |page=69 |isbn=9781137548627}}</ref> The Soviet Union, while being sympathetic to Pakistan's loss, decided to engage with Pakistan after sending an invitation through Rodionov to [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]], who [[1972 Bhutto visit to Soviet Union|paid a state visit]] to the Soviet Union in 1972 to strengthen [[Pakistan-Soviet Union relations|bilateral relations]] that continued over the years.<ref name="Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses.">{{cite book|title=News Review on South Asia and Indian Ocean|date=1972|publisher=Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VVU8AAAAMAAJ&q=rodionov+pakistan+Bhutto|access-date=22 December 2016|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|16}}
 
A 2019 study argues "that Nixon and Kissinger routinely demonstrated psychological biases that led them to overestimate the likelihood of West Pakistani victory" in the war, and that they overestimated "the importance of the crisis to broader U.S. policy. The evidence fails to support Nixon and Kissinger's own framing of the 1971 crisis as a contest between cool-headed [[realpolitik]] and idealistic humanitarianism, and instead shows that Kissinger and Nixon's policy decisions harmed their stated goals because of repeated decision-making errors."<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Tilting at windmills: The flawed U.S. policy toward the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war|journal = Journal of Strategic Studies|volume = 42|issue = 5|pages = 677–700|last=Clary|first=Christopher|year=2019|doi=10.1080/01402390.2019.1570143|s2cid = 159267611}}</ref>
 
=== China===
 
During the course of the war, [[China]] harshly criticised India for its involvement in the East Pakistan crises, and accused India of having [[Indian Century|imperialistic]] designs in South Asia.<ref name="Atlantic Publishers & Dist, Jayapalan">{{cite book|last1=Jayapalan|first1=N.|title=India and Her Neighbours|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=9788171569120|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQVkYiFCrVoC&q=china%201971%20indo%20pak%20war&pg=PA19|access-date=25 December 2016|language=en|year=2000}}</ref>{{rp|19}} Before the war started, Chinese leaders and officials had long been philosophically advising the Pakistan government to make peaceful political settlements with the East Pakistani leaders, as China feared that India was secretly supporting, infiltrating, and arming the Bengali rebels against the [[Government of East Pakistan|East Pakistani government]].<ref name="Manohar, Singh">{{cite book |editor-last1=Singh |editor-first1=Swaran |year=2007 |title=China-Pakistan strategic cooperation : Indian perspectives |publisher=Manohar |location=New Delhi |page=61 |isbn=978-8173047619}}</ref><ref name="Columbia University Press, Jaffrelot">{{cite book |last1=Jaffrelot |first1=Christophe |year=2016 |title=Pakistan at the Crossroads: Domestic Dynamics and External Pressures |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A791CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA285 |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=285 |isbn=9780231540254}}</ref> China was also critical of the Government of East Pakistan, led by its [[Governor of East Pakistan|Governor]] Lieutenant-General Tikka Khan, which used ruthless measures to deal with the Bengali opposition, and did not endorse the Pakistani position on that issue.<ref name="Columbia University Press, Jaffrelot"/>
 
When the war started, China reproached India for its direct involvement and infiltration in East Pakistan.<ref name="Columbia University Press, Jaffrelot" /> It disagreed with Pakistani President Yahya Khan's consideration of military options, and criticised [[East Pakistan Awami League]] politicians' ties with India.<ref name="Columbia University Press, Jaffrelot" /> China reacted with great alarm when the prospects of Indian invasion of Pakistan and integration of [[Pakistan-administered Kashmir]] into their [[Indian-controlled Kashmir|side of Kashmir]], became imminent.<ref name="time13Dec1971" /> US President Nixon encouraged China to mobilise its [[Peoples Liberation Army|armed forces]] along its border with India to discourage the Indian assault, but the Chinese did not respond to this encouragement since the Indian Army's [[Northern Command (India)|Northern Command]] was well prepared to guard the [[Line of Actual Control]], and was already engaging and making advances against the Pakistan Army's [[X Corps (Pakistan)|X Corps]] in the [[Line of Control]].{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}
 
China did not welcome the break-up of Pakistan's unity by the East Pakistani politicians, and effectively vetoed the membership of [[Bangladesh]] when it applied to the [[United Nations]] in 1972.<ref name=oxnard>{{cite news|title=China Recognizes Bangladesh|agency=Associated Press|location=Oxnard, California, USA|date=1 September 1975|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rnVKAAAAIBAJ&pg=4237,20391}}</ref> China objected to admitting Bangladesh on the grounds that two UN resolutions concerning Bangladesh, requiring the [[Delhi Agreement|repatriation]] of Pakistani [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Prisoners of War Investigation|POWs and civilians]], had not yet been implemented.<ref>{{cite news|title=China Veto Downs Bangladesh UN Entry|agency=United Press International|date=26 August 1972|location=Montreal, Quebec, Canada|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GQsyAAAAIBAJ&pg=4712,6055847}}</ref> Furthermore, China was also among the last countries to [[Foreign relations of Bangladesh|recognise]] the independence of [[Bangladesh]], refusing to do so until 31 August 1975.<ref name="ABC-CLIO, Chau">{{cite book |last1=Chau |first1=Donovan C. |last2=Kane |first2=Thomas M. |year=2014 |title=China and International Security: History, Strategy, and 21st-Century Policy [3 volumes]: History, Strategy, and 21st-Century Policy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xo6dAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA226 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |pages=226–227 |isbn=9781440800023 |access-date=26 December 2016|language=en}}</ref><ref name=oxnard/><ref name=recog-story>{{cite web|url=http://www.bdsdf.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=3072|title=The Recognition Story|publisher=Bangladesh Strategic and Development Forum|access-date=17 August 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725050939/http://www.bdsdf.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=3072|archive-date=25 July 2011}}</ref> To this date, its relations with Bangladesh are determined by the Pakistan factor.<ref name="Vij Books India Pvt Ltd, Raghavan">{{cite book |last1=Raghavan |first1=V. R. |year=2013 |title=Internal Conflicts- A Four State Analysis: India-Nepal-Sri Lanka-Myanmar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mv-pCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA69 |publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd |page=69 |isbn=9789382573418}}</ref>
 
=== Iran ===
{{See also|Baloch nationalism}}
 
During the course of the conflict, [[Iran]] also stood with Pakistan politically and diplomatically.<ref name="British Academic Press, Mudiam"/>{{rp|78–79}} It was concerned with the imminent break-up of Pakistan which, it feared, would have caused the state to [[Balkanization|fractionalise into small pieces]], ultimately resulting in Iran's encirclement by rivals. After the war, however, Iran began cementing [[India–Iran relations|ties with India]] based on mutual security co-operation.<ref name="British Academic Press, Mudiam"/>{{rp|79}}{{verification needed|date=September 2017}} At the beginning of the conflict, Iran had helped Pakistan by sheltering PAF's fighter jets and providing it with free fuel to take part in the conflict, in an attempt to keep Pakistan's regional integrity united.<ref name="British Academic Press, Mudiam"/>{{rp|80}}{{verification needed|date=September 2017}} When Pakistan called for unilateral ceasefire and the surrender was announced, the [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah of Iran]] hastily responded by preparing the [[Iranian military]] to come up with contingency plans to forcefully invade Pakistan and annex its [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan province]] into [[Balochistan, Iran|its side of Balochistan]], by any means necessary, before anybody else did it.<ref name="British Academic Press, Mudiam"/>{{rp|79}}{{verification needed|date=September 2017}}
 
=== Sri Lanka ===
{{See also|Tamil Eelam}}
 
Sri Lanka saw the partition of Pakistan as an example for themselves and feared India might use its enhanced power against them in the future.<ref name=":5" /> Despite the left wing government of [[Sirimavo Bandaranaike]] following a neutral non-aligned foreign policy Sri Lanka decided to help Pakistan in the war.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> As Pakistani aircraft could not fly over Indian territory, they would have to take a longer route around India and so they stopped at [[Bandaranaike Airport]] in [[Sri Lanka]] where they were refuelled before flying to [[East Pakistan]].<ref name=":8" />
 
=== Arab World ===
As many [[Arab countries]] were allied with both the [[United States]] and [[Pakistan]], it was easy for [[Kissinger]] to encourage them to participate. He sent letters to both, the [[Hussein of Jordan|King of Jordan]] and the [[Shah Faisal|King of Saudi Arabia]]. President [[Nixon]] gave permission for Jordan to send ten [[F-104]]s and promised to provide replacements.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} [[F-86]]s from [[Saudi Arabia]] helped camouflage the extent of PAF losses, and some [[Libya]]n [[Northrop F-5|F-5s]] were reportedly deployed to [[Sargodha Airbase|Sargodha AFB]], perhaps as a potential training unit to prepare Pakistani pilots for an influx of more F-5s from Saudi Arabia.<ref name="Pen and Sword, Bowman"/>{{rp|112}} [[List of heads of state of Libya|Libyan leader]] Gaddafi also personally directed a strongly worded letter to [[Indian Prime Minister]] [[Indira Gandhi]] accusing her of aggression against Pakistan, which endeared him to all Pakistanis.<ref name="THe News International">{{cite news|last=Nazar Abbas |title=Gaddafi is gone, long live Libya |url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-64753-Gaddafi-is-gone-long-live-Libya |access-date=9 August 2013 |newspaper=THe News International |date=26 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130809005813/http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-64753-Gaddafi-is-gone-long-live-Libya |archive-date=9 August 2013}}</ref> In addition to these three countries, an unidentified [[Middle East]]ern ally also supplied [[Pakistan]] with [[Mirage III]]s. However, other countries such as [[Syria]] and [[Tunisia]] were against interfering describing it as an internal matter of Pakistan.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ward |first1=Richard Edmund |year=1992 |title=India's Pro-Arab Policy: A Study in Continuity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5n359Tp2FRMC&pg=PA80 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=80 |isbn=9780275940867}}</ref>
 
== Aftermath ==
=== India ===
The war stripped Pakistan of more than half of its population, and with nearly one-third of its army in captivity, clearly established India's military and political dominance of the subcontinent.<ref name="time27Dec1971" /> India successfully led a diplomatic campaign to isolate Pakistan.<ref name="ABC-CLIO, Heo and Jr."/>{{rp|596}} In addition, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's state visit to [[United Kingdom]] and [[France]] further helped break ice with the United States, and blocked any pro-Pakistan resolution in the [[United Nations]].<ref name="ABC-CLIO, Heo and Jr."/>{{rp|596}} There was also a meeting between Prime Minister Gandhi and President Nixon in November 1971,{{clarify|date=February 2017|reason=Aftermath section should cover events after December 1971, is this a typo or in wrong section?}} where she rejected the US advice against intervening in the conflict.<ref name="ABC-CLIO, Heo and Jr."/>{{rp|596}}
 
The victory also defined India's much broader role in foreign politics, as many countries in the world had come to realise – including the United States – that the balance of power had shifted to India as a major player in the region.<ref name="British Academic Press, Mudiam">{{cite book|last1=Mudiam|first1=Prithvi Ram|year=1994|title=India and the Middle East|publisher=British Academic Press|isbn=9781850437031|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jiDYjw4gCzEC&q=shah%20of%20iran%20and%20india%201971&pg=PA79|access-date=24 December 2016|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|80}}<ref name="Brookings Institution Press, Kemp">{{cite book|last1=Kemp|first1=Geoffrey|year=2012|title=The East Moves West: India, China, and Asia's Growing Presence in the Middle East|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|isbn=978-0815724070|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-rV05oQ_4AC&q=iran%20and%20india%201971&pg=PA57|access-date=24 December 2016|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|57}} In the wake of changing geopolitical realities, India sought to establish closer relations with regional countries such as Iran, which was a traditional ally of Pakistan.<ref name="Brookings Institution Press, Kemp"/>{{rp|57}} The United States itself accepted a new balance of power, and when India conducted a [[Smiling Buddha|surprise nuclear test]] in 1974, the US notified India that it had no "interest in actions designed to achieve new balance of power."<ref name="Springer, Watering"/>
 
In spite of the magnitude of the victory, India was surprisingly restrained in its reaction.<ref name="time27Dec1971" /> Mostly, Indian leaders seemed pleased by the relative ease with which they had accomplished their goals—the establishment of Bangladesh and the prospect of an early return to their homeland of the 10 million Bengali refugees who were the cause of the war.<ref name="time27Dec1971" /> In announcing the Pakistani surrender, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared in the Indian Parliament:
 
{{Block quote|Dacca is now the free capital of a free country. We hail the people of Bangladesh in their hour of triumph. All nations who value the human spirit will recognise it as a significant milestone in man's quest for liberty.<ref name="time27Dec1971" />|sign=|source=}} Colonel John Gill of [[National Defense University]], US, remarks that, while India achieved a military victory, it was not able to reap the political fruits it might have hoped for in Bangladesh. After a brief 'honeymoon' phase between India and Bangladesh, [[Bangladesh–India relations|their relationship]] began to sour.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/22107538/An-Atlas-of-the-1971-India-Pakistan-War-The-Creation-Of-Bangladesh |title=An Atlas of the 1971 India – Pakistan War: The Creation of Bangladesh |last=Gill |first=John H. |publisher=National Defense University. Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies |year=2003 |location=Washington DC |page=66}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/journal_of_military_history/v069/69.2higham.html |title=An Atlas of the 1971 India – Pakistan war : the creation of Bangladesh (review) |last=Higham |first=Robin D. S. |journal=The Journal of Military History |volume=69 |number=2 |date=April 2005|doi=10.1353/jmh.2005.0101 |s2cid=162129844 }}</ref> The perceived Indian overstay revived Bangladeshi anxieties of Hindu control.<ref>{{cite book|author=Craig Baxter| author-link = Craig Baxter |title=Government and politics in South Asia|edition=5th|year=2002|publisher=Westview Press|page=269}}</ref> Many were concerned that Mujib was permitting Indian interference in the country's internal matters<ref>{{cite book|author=David Lewis|title=Bangladesh: Politics, Economy and Civil Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lH40gT7xvYC|date=31 October 2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-50257-3|page=81|quote=There were high levels of corruption and cronyism within the administration and widespread concerns that he [Mujib] was allowing India to interfere in Bangladesh's domestic affairs existed.}}</ref> and many in the Bangladeshi army resented his attachment with India.<ref>{{cite book|author=Willem van Schendel|title=A History of Bangladesh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Y2bBQAAQBAJ|date=12 February 2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-316-26497-3|page=182|quote=Another, far more dangerous group felt deeply affronted: the army ... Their resentment originated in the final days of the war of 1971. According to them, the Indian army had robbed the Bangladeshi fighters of the glory of liberating Bangladesh, walking in when the freedom fighters had already finished the job, and had taken away to India all sophisticated weaponry and vehicles captured from the Pakistanis ... they also felt bitter about Mujib's closeness to India, which, they thought, undermined the sovereignty of Bangladesh. By 1973, many in the army were both anti-Indian and anti-Mujib; in the elections that year the garrisons voted solidly for opposition candidates.}}</ref> Whilst India enjoys excellent relations with Bangladesh during the [[Awami League]] tenures, relations deteriorated when the [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party]] assumed power. A 2014 [[Pew Research Center]] opinion poll found that 27% of Bangladeshis were wary of India. However, 70% of Bangladeshis held a positive view of India: while 50% of Bangladeshis held a positive view of Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/07/14/chapter-4-how-asians-view-each-other/|title=Chapter 4: How Asians View Each Other |date=14 July 2014 |website=Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project|access-date=2016-04-09}}</ref>
 
=== Pakistan ===
For Pakistan, the war was a complete and humiliating defeat,<ref name="time27Dec1971" /> a psychological setback that came from a defeat at the hands of rival India. Being beaten by Hindus was complete humiliating as it was perception in Pakistan that hindus are weak and filthy.<ref name="mosq-mill" /> Pakistan lost half its population and a significant portion of its economy, and suffered setbacks to its geopolitical role in South Asia.<ref name="time27Dec1971" /><ref name="mosq-mill" /> In the post-war era, Pakistan struggled to absorb the lessons learned from the military interventions in the democratic system and the impact of the Pakistani military's failure was grave and long-lasting.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pakistan's leaders should heed the lesson of Bangladesh|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/aug/15/pakistan-flood-warning|work=The Guardian|access-date=26 December 2016|date=15 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=No lessons learnt in forty years |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/307080/no-lessons-learnt-in-forty-years/|work=The Express Tribune|access-date=26 December 2016|date=15 December 2011}}</ref>
 
From the [[Geopolitics|geopolitical]] [[Point of view (philosophy)|point of view]], the war ended in the [[Breakup of East and West Pakistan|breaking-up of the unity]] of Pakistan from being the largest [[Muslim world|Muslim country]] in the world to its [[Stagflation in Pakistan|politico-economic]] and military collapse that resulted from a direct [[India and state-sponsored terrorism|foreign intervention by India]] in 1971.<ref name="Routledge, Malik">{{cite book|last1=Malik|first1=Anas|title=Political Survival in Pakistan: Beyond Ideology|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136904196|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLkuCgAAQBAJ&q=world's%20largest%20islamic%20state%20west%20pakistan&pg=PA50|access-date=7 November 2016|language=en|date=2010-10-22}}</ref>{{rp|50}}<ref name="Cambridge University Press, Waines">{{cite book|last1=Waines|first1=David|title=An Introduction to Islam|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521539067|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YYxZ0QpKBGsC&q=world's%20largest%20islamic%20state%20%20pakistan%201971&pg=PP15|access-date=7 November 2016|language=en|date=2003-11-06}}</ref>{{rp|1}}<ref name="Lancer Publishers LLC, Dogra">{{cite book|last1=Dogra|first1=Wg Cdr C. Deepak|title=Pakistan: Caught in the Whirlwind|publisher=Lancer Publishers LLC|isbn=9781940988221|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3zooCwAAQBAJ&q=world's%20largest%20islamic%20nation%20west%20pakistan&pg=PT223|access-date=7 November 2016|language=en|date=2015-12-09}}</ref><ref>Further information relates in [[Hamoodur Rahman Commission]].</ref> The Pakistani policy-making institutions further feared that the historicity of the [[two-nation theory]] had been disproved by the war, that [[Muslim nationalism in South Asia|Muslim nationalism]] had proved insufficient to keep Bengalis a part of Pakistan.<ref name="mosq-mill" />
 
The Pakistani people were not mentally prepared to accept the magnitude of this kind of defeat, as the state electronic media had been projecting imaginary victories; however, the privately owned electronic news media coverage in East Pakistan had reported the complexity of the situation.<ref name="mosq-mill" />  When the ceasefire that came from the surrender of East Pakistan was finally announced, the people could not come to terms with the magnitude of defeat; spontaneous demonstrations and massive protests erupted on the streets of major metropolitan cities in Pakistan.  According to Pakistani historians, the trauma was extremely severe, and the cost of the war for Pakistan in monetary terms and in human resources was very high.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Siddique|first1=Abubakar|title=The Pashtuns: The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan|publisher=Random House India|isbn=9788184006254|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4eb-AwAAQBAJ&q=The%20trauma%20extremely%20severe%20in%20Pakistan%201971&pg=PT60|access-date=23 December 2016|language=en|date=2014-06-10}}</ref>{{rp|xxx}}<ref>Langewiesche, William (November 2005). "The Wrath of Khan". The Atlantic. Retrieved 31 July 2016.</ref>  Demoralized and finding itself unable to control the situation, the Yahya administration fell when [[President Yahya Khan]] turned over his presidency to [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]], who was sworn in on 20 December 1971 as [[President of Pakistan|President]] [[Chief Martial Law Administrator|with the control of the military]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ghazali.net/book1/chapter_5.htm|title=Islamic Pakistan, The Second Martial Law|author =Abdus Sattar Ghazali|access-date=20 October 2009}}</ref>
 
The loss of East Pakistan shattered the prestige of the Pakistani military.<ref name="mosq-mill" />  Pakistan lost half its navy, a quarter of its air force, and a third of its army.<ref name="Ali1983" />  The war also exposed the shortcomings of Pakistan's declared strategic doctrine that the "defence of East Pakistan lay in West Pakistan".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defencejournal.com/2000/oct/yaqub.htm |title=Prince, Soldier, Statesman&nbsp;– Sahabzada Yaqub Khan |website=Defence Journal |access-date=20 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312092440/http://www.defencejournal.com/2000/oct/yaqub.htm |archive-date=12 March 2009}}</ref> [[Hussain Haqqani]], in his book ''Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military'' notes,
 
{{Block quote|Moreover, the army had failed to fulfill its promises of fighting to the last man. The eastern command had laid down arms after losing only 1,300 men in battle. In West Pakistan 1,200 military deaths had accompanied lackluster military performance.|Ḥaqqānī, p. 87<ref>Ḥaqqānī, p. 87</ref>}}
 
In his book ''The 1971 Indo-Pak War: A Soldier's Narrative'', Pakistan Army's Major General Hakeem Arshad Qureshi, a veteran of this conflict, noted:
{{Block quote|We must accept the fact that, as a people, we had also contributed to the bifurcation of our own country. It was not a Niazi, or a Yahya, even a Mujib, or a Bhutto, or their key assistants, who alone were the cause of our break-up, but a corrupted system and a flawed social order that our own apathy had allowed to remain in place for years.  At the most critical moment in our history we failed to check the limitless ambitions of individuals with dubious antecedents and to thwart their selfish and irresponsible behaviour. It was our collective 'conduct' that had provided the enemy an opportunity to dismember us.|Qureshi, p. 288<ref>{{cite book |last=Qureshi |first=Hakeem Arshad |year=2002 |title=The 1971 Indo-Pak War: A Soldier's Narrative |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=288 |isbn=978-0-19-579778-7}}</ref>}}
 
After the war, the Pakistan Army's generals in the East held each other responsible for the atrocities committed, but most of the burden was laid on Lieutenant-General [[Tikka Khan]], who earned notoriety from his actions as governor of the East; he was called the "Butcher of Bengal" because of the widespread atrocities committed within the areas of his responsibility.<ref name="LATimes">{{cite news|url=https://articles.latimes.com/2002/mar/30/local/me-passings30.1|title=Gen. Tikka Khan, 87; 'Butcher of Bengal' Led Pakistani Army|date=30 March 2002|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=11 April 2010}}</ref> Unlike his contemporary Yaqub who was a [[Pacifism|pacifist]] and knew well of the limits of force, Tikka was a "soldier known for his eager use of force" to settle his differences.<ref name="Nation Books, Bhutto">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pkstnjPZkuQC&pg=PA100|title=Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter's Memoir|last1=Bhutto|first1=Fatima|date=2011-09-06|publisher=Nation Books|isbn=978-1-56858-712-7|page=100|author-link=Fatima Bhutto|access-date=19 August 2016}}</ref>{{rp|100}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.massviolence.org/Khan-1917-2002-General-Tikka|title=Khan (1917–2002), General Tikka|last=Baixas|first=Lionel|date=21 June 2008|publisher=Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence|access-date=17 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Alamgir|first=Aurangzaib|date=Nov–Dec 2012|title=Pakistan's Balochistan Problem: An Insurgency's Rebirth|url=http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/pakistan%E2%80%99s-balochistan-problem-insurgency%E2%80%99s-rebirth|journal=World Affairs|volume=174|issue=4|pages=33–38|access-date=17 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720074231/http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/pakistan%E2%80%99s-balochistan-problem-insurgency%E2%80%99s-rebirth|archive-date=20 July 2013|url-status=usurped|jstor=41639031}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2006/aug/29guest1.htm|title=Is Balochistan another Bangladesh?|author=Col (retd) Anil Athale|date=29 August 2006|newspaper=Rediff India Abroad|access-date=17 July 2013}}</ref>
 
Confessing at the hearings of the [[Hamoodur Rahman Commission|War Enquiry Commission]], Lieutenant-General [[A. A. K. Niazi]] reportedly commented on Tikka's actions and noted: "On the night between 25/26 March 1971, [General] Tikka struck. Peaceful night was turned into a time of wailing, crying and burning. [General] Tikka let loose everything at his disposal as if raiding an enemy, not dealing with his own misguided and misled people. The military action was a display of stark cruelty more merciless than the massacres at [[Bukhara]] and [[Baghdad]] by [[Chengiz Khan]] and [[Hulagu Khan|Halaku Khan]]... [General] Tikka... resorted to the killing of civilians and a [[scorched earth]] policy. His orders to his troops were: 'I want the land, not the people'".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYppZ_dEjdIC |title=Pakistan: between mosque and the military |last=Haqqani |first=Hussain |publisher=Carnegie Endowment |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-87003-214-1 |page=74 |access-date=11 April 2010}}</ref>  Major-General [[Rao Farman Ali|Rao Farman]] wrote in his table diary: "Green land of East Pakistan will be painted red," which has been interpreted to mean that he planned to massacre Bengalis.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Khan |first1=M. H. |year=2016 |title=Memoir of M H Khan: Turbulence in the Indian Subcontinent |publisher=Mereo Books |page=144 |isbn=978-1-86151-569-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dp-QDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA144}}</ref> Farman said the entry was not expressing a thirst for blood, but concern that East Pakistan's future could be the red flag of Communism.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mamoon |first=Muntassir |translator-last=Ibrahim |translator-first=Kushal |year=2000 |title=The Vanquished Generals and the Liberation War of Bangladesh |publisher=Somoy Prokashan |pages=88, 148-149 |isbn=984-458-210-5}}</ref>
 
Major reforms were carried out by successive governments in Pakistan after the war in the light of many recommendations made in the [[Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report]].<ref name="Springer, Burki">{{cite book|last1=Burki|first1=Shahid Javed|title=Pakistan Under Bhutto, 1971–1977|publisher=Springer|isbn=9781349195299|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LX6xCwAAQBAJ&q=indian%20army%20vs%20west%20pakistan%20army%201971&pg=PA59|language=en|date=1988-11-01}}</ref>{{rp|254}}  To address the economic disparity, the [[National Finance Commission Award|National Finance Commission system]] was established to equally distribute the taxation revenue among the [[Four Provinces (Pakistan)|four provinces]], the large-scale [[Nationalisation in Pakistan|nationalisation]] of industries and nationwide [[Census in Pakistan|census]] were carried out in 1972.<ref name="Bureau of Statistics">{{cite web|last1=GoP|first1=Government of Pakistan|title=Population of Pakistan in 1972|url=http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/other/pocket_book2006/2.pdf|publisher=Bureau of Statistics|access-date=24 December 2016}}</ref>  The [[Constitution of Pakistan|Constitution]] was promulgated in 1973 that reflected this equal balance and a compromise between [[Islamism]] and [[Humanism]], and provided guaranteed equal human rights to all.<ref name="Nazaria-e-Pakistan, Part IV">{{cite web |title=Constitution of Pakistan|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/the-constitution-of-1973/ |date=June 2003 |website=Story of Pakistan |publisher=Nazaria-e-Pakistan, Part IV |access-date=2 June 2014}}</ref>  The [[Pakistani military|military]] was heavily reconstructed and heavily reorganised, with President Bhutto appointing chiefs of staff in each inter-service, contrary to [[Commander-in-chief|C-in-Cs]], and making instruction on human rights compulsory in the military syllabus in each branch of inter-services.<ref name="Lancer Publishers, Singh">{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Ravi Shekhar Narain Singh|title=The Military Factor in Pakistan|publisher=Lancer Publishers|isbn=9780981537894|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wCm2DFZblOYC&q=Bhutto%20appoints%20chiefs%20of%20staff%20of%20air%20army&pg=PA62|access-date=24 December 2016|language=en|year=2008}}</ref>{{rp|62–100}} Major investments were directed towards modernising the navy.<ref name="Sona Printers, India" />{{rp|100}}  The military's [[chain of command]] was centralized in [[Joint Staff Headquarters (Pakistan)|Joint Staff Headquarters]] (JS HQ) led by an appointed [[Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee|Chairman Joint Chiefs Committee]] to coordinars military efforts to safeguard the nation's defence and unity.<ref name="Lancer Publishers, Singh"/>{{rp|62–63}}  In addition, Pakistan sought to have a diversified foreign policy, as Pakistani geostrategists had been shocked that both China and the United States provided limited support to Pakistan during the course of the war, with the US displaying an inability to supply weapons that Pakistan needed the most.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kapur|first1=Ashok|title=India and the South Asian Strategic Triangle|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136902611|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iALGBQAAQBAJ&q=Pakistani%20generals%20surprised%20by%20Chinese%201971&pg=PT257|access-date=26 December 2016|language=en|date=2010-12-14}}</ref>{{rp|xxxiii}}
 
On 20 January 1972, Pakistan under Bhutto launched the [[Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction|clandestine development of nuclear weapons]] with a view to "never to allow[ing] another foreign invasion of Pakistan."<ref name="McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP">{{cite book|last1=Paul|first1=T. V.|last2=Studies|first2=Teleglobe Raoul-Dandurand Chair of Strategic and Diplomatic|last3=sécurité|first3=Université du Québec à Montréal Centre d'études des politiques étrangères et de|title=Power Versus Prudence: Why Nations Forgo Nuclear Weapons|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP|isbn=9780773520875|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XCm0JSs27eAC&q=Pakistan%201971%20war%20nuclear&pg=PA133|access-date=24 December 2016|language=en|year=2000}}</ref>{{rp|133–135}}  This crash programme reached parity{{Clarify|date=November 2020}} in 1977 when the first [[nuclear weapon design|weapon design]] was successfully achieved.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons Program – The Beginning|url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Pakistan/PakOrigin.html |website=nuclearweaponarchive.org |access-date=24 December 2016}}</ref>
 
=== Bangladesh ===
{{main|1971 East Pakistan genocide}}
 
As a result of the war, East Pakistan became an independent country, [[Bangladesh]], as the world's fourth most populous Muslim state on 16 December 1971.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} West Pakistan, now just Pakistan, secured the release of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from the [[Headquarter Jail|Headquarter Prison]] and allowed him to return to Dacca.  On 19 January 1972, Mujib was inaugurated as the first [[President of Bangladesh]], later becoming the [[Prime Minister of Bangladesh]] in 1974.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}
 
On the brink of defeat in around 14 December 1971, the media reports indicated that the Pakistan Army soldiers, the local [[East Pakistan Police]] they controlled, [[Razakar (East Pakistan)|''razakars'']] and the [[East Pakistan Central Peace Committee|''Shanti Committee'']] carried out [[1971 East Pakistan Intellectuals massacre|systematic killings]] of professionals such as physicians, teachers, and other intellectuals,<ref name="nyt12-19-1971">{{cite news|title=125 Slain in Dacca Area, Believed Elite of Bengal|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/19/archives/125-slain-in-dacca-area-believed-elite-of-bengal-125-found-slain.html|work=The New York Times|location=New York|page=1|date=19 December 1971|access-date=4 January 2008|quote=At least 125 persons, believed to be physicians, professors, writers and teachers, were found murdered today in a field outside Dacca. All the victims' hands were tied behind their backs and they had been bayoneted, garroted or shot. These victims were among an estimated 300 Bengali intellectuals who had been seized by West Pakistani soldiers and locally recruited supporters.}}</ref><ref name="massacre-intel">{{cite journal|last=Murshid|first=Tazeen M.|year=1997 |title=State, Nation, Identity: The Quest for Legitimacy in Bangladesh|journal=South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies|volume=20|issue=2|pages=1–34|issn=1479-0270|doi=10.1080/00856409708723294}}</ref> as part of a [[pogrom]] against the [[Bengali Hindus|Bengali Hindu]] minorities who constituted the majority of urban educated intellectuals.<ref name=BangInt>{{cite book |last=Khan |first=Muazzam Hussain |year=2012 |chapter=Killing of Intellectuals |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Killing_of_Intellectuals |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Shaiduzzaman |title=Martyred intellectuals: martyred history |url=http://www.newagebd.com/2005/dec/15/murdered/murdered.html |newspaper=The New Age|location=South Africa|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201162513/http://www.newagebd.com/2005/dec/15/murdered/murdered.html |archive-date=1 December 2010 |access-date=20 October 2009}}</ref>
 
Young men, especially students, who were seen as possible rebels and recruiters were also targeted by the stationed military, but the extent of casualties in East Pakistan is not known, and the issue is itself controversial and contradictory among the authors who wrote books on the pogrom;<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bose |first1=Sarmila |author-link=Sarmila Bose |date=2010 |title=Dead reckoning : memories of the 1971 Bangladesh war |location=London |publisher=C. Hurst |pages=164–165, 176–181 |isbn=978-1-84904-049-5}}</ref><ref name="ABC-CLIO, Mikaberidze">{{cite book |last1=Mikaberidze |first1=Alexander |year=2013 |title=Atrocities, Massacres, and War Crimes: An Encyclopedia [2 Volumes]: An Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jVqqAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA511 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |pages=511–512 |isbn=978-1-59884-926-4}}</ref> the Pakistani government denied the charges of involvement in 2015.<ref name="The Daily Star, 2015">{{cite news|last1=Staff correspondents|title=Pakistan denies committing war crimes in 1971|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/pak-statement-creates-outrage-180628|access-date=26 December 2016|work=The Daily Star|publisher=The Daily Star, 2015|date=1 December 2015}}</ref>  [[R.J. Rummel]] cites estimates ranging from one to three million people killed.<ref name="Rummel">Rummel, Rudolph J., [http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP8.HTM "Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900"], {{ISBN|978-3-8258-4010-5}}, Chapter 8, table 8.1</ref>  Other estimates place the death toll lower, at 300,000.  Bangladesh government figures state that Pakistani forces aided by collaborators killed three million people, raped 200,000 women and displaced millions of others.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/research/birth-of-bangladesh-when-raped-women-and-war-babies-paid-the-price-of-a-new-nation-victory-day-4430420/|title=Birth of Bangladesh: When raped women and war babies paid the price of a new nation |work=The Indian Express |date=19 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=26 March 2010 |title=Bangladesh sets up war crimes court |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/03/2010325151839747356.html |publisher=[[Al Jazeera]]}}</ref>
 
According to authors Kenton Worcester, Sally Bermanzohn and Mark Ungar, Bengalis themselves killed about 150,000 non-Bengalis living in the East.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Worcester |first1=Kenton |last2=Bermanzohn |first2=Sally Avery |last3=Ungar |first3=Mark |year=2013 |title=Violence and Politics: Globalization's Paradox |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CTlFAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 |publisher=Routledge |page=111 |isbn=978-1-136-70125-2}}</ref> There had been reports of Bengali insurgents indiscriminately killing non-Bengalis throughout the East; however, neither side provided substantial proofs for their claims and both Bangladeshi and Pakistani figures contradict each other over this issue.<ref name="Yale University Press, Tripathi">{{cite book |last1=Tripathi |first1=Salil |year=2016 |title=The Colonel Who Would Not Repent: The Bangladesh War and Its Unquiet Legacy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bcffCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA108 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-21818-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hossain |first1=Mokerrom |year=2010 |title=From Protest to Freedom: A Book for the New Generation: the Birth of Bangladesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Vt3KxEBYk0C&pg=PA133 |publisher=Mokerrom |page=133 |isbn=978-0-615-48695-6}}</ref>  Bihari representatives in June 1971 claimed a higher figure of 500,000 killed by Bengalis.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gerlach |first=Christian |date=2010 |title=Extremely Violent Societies: Mass Violence in the Twentieth-Century World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=48N-XbOltMEC&pg=PA148 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=148 |isbn=978-1-139-49351-2}}</ref>
 
In 2010, the [[Awami League]]'s government decided to set up a [[International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)|tribunal]] to prosecute the people involved in alleged [[war crime]]s and those who collaborated with Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news |date=25 March 2010 |title=Bangladesh sets up 1971 war crimes tribunal |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8587511.stm |work=BBC News}}</ref>  According to the government, the defendants would be charged with [[crimes against humanity]], [[genocide]], murder, rape and [[arson]].<ref>{{cite news |date=26 March 2010 |title=Bangladesh to Hold Trials for 1971 War Crimes |url=http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Bangladesh-to-Hold-Trials-for-1971-War-Crimes-89258207.html |publisher=[[Voice of America]] |access-date=27 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329134544/http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Bangladesh-to-Hold-Trials-for-1971-War-Crimes-89258207.html |archive-date=29 March 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
 
According to John H. Gill, there was widespread polarisation between pro-Pakistan Bengalis and pro-liberation Bengalis during the war, and those internal battles are still playing out in the domestic politics of modern-day Bangladesh.<ref>{{Cite book|title=An Atlas of 1971 Indian-Pakistan war-the Creation of Bangladesh|last=Gill|first=John H|publisher=NESA|year=1994|page=66}}</ref> To this day, the issue of committed atrocities and pogroms is an influential factor in the [[Bangladesh–Pakistan relations]].<ref name=condemnaqm3>{{cite news|title=Dhaka demonstrators protest Pakistan's reaction to Molla's execution|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/647281/dhaka-demonstrators-protest-pakistans-reaction-to-mollas-execution/ |newspaper=The Express Tribune|date=18 December 2013 |access-date=2013-12-18}}</ref>
 
==Impact==
===Pakistan: War Enquiry Commission and War prisoners===
{{Main|Hamoodur Rahman Commission|l1=War Enquiry Commission|Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Prisoners of War Investigation}}
In the aftermath of the war, the Pakistani Government constituted the [[Hamoodur Rahman Commission|War Enquiry Commission]], to be headed by [[Chief Justice of Pakistan|Chief Justice]] [[Hamoodur Rahman]], who was an ethnic [[Bengali people|Bengali]],<ref name=":0"/> and composed of the [[List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan|senior justices]] of the [[Supreme Court of Pakistan]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Bose|first=Sarmila|date=22 September 2007|title=Losing the Victims: Problems of Using Women as Weapons in Recounting the Bangladesh War|url=http://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/materials/profile_materials/sbose-losing_the_victims-epw_v_42_no_38_2007.pdf|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|page=3865}}</ref> The War Enquiry Commission was mandated with carrying out thorough investigations into the intelligence, strategic, political and military failures that causes the defeat in the war.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}
 
The War Commission also looked into Pakistan's political and military involvement in the [[history of East Pakistan]] that encompasses 1947–71.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} The [[Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report|First War Report]] was submitted in July 1972, but it was very critically opined and penned on political misconducts of politicians and the military interference in [[Politics of Pakistan|national politics]].<ref name="Intelligence Publishers, Kharal">{{cite book|last1=Kharal|first1=Rāʼe Asad K̲h̲ān|title=Pākistān kaise ṭūṭā?|date=2000|publisher=Intelligence Publishers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0QxuAAAAMAAJ&q=hamoodur+rahman+commission+pakistan|access-date=26 December 2016|language=ja}}</ref>{{rp|22–197}} Written in moral and philosophical perspective, the First Report was lengthy and provided accounts that were unpalatable to be released to the public. Initially, there were 12 copies that were all destroyed, except for the one that was kept and marked as "[[Top Secret]]" to prevent the [[Backlash (sociology)|backlash]] effects on the demoralised military.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shah|first1=Aqil|title=The Army and Democracy|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674419773|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ShihAwAAQBAJ&q=hamoodur%20&pg=PA334|access-date=26 December 2016|language=en|date=2014-04-21}}</ref>{{rp|127}} In 1976, the [[Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report|Supplementary Report]] was submitted, which was the comprehensive report compiled together with the First Report; this report was also marked as [[Classified information|classified]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Hamood-ur-Rahman Commission Report {{!}} Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan |url=http://storyofpakistan.com/the-hamood-ur-rahman-commission-report |date=1 June 2003 |website=Story of Pakistan |access-date=26 December 2016}}</ref>
 
In 2000, the excerpts of the Supplementary Report were leaked to a political correspondent of Pakistan's [[Dawn (newspaper)|''Dawn'']], which the ''Dawn'' published together with ''[[India Today]]''.<ref name="IndiaToday2000">{{cite magazine |last=Halarnkar |first=Sameer |date=21 August 2000 |title=The Untold Story of 1971&nbsp;– Behind Pakistan's Defeat |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/secret-inquiry-into-pakistans-debacle-in-1971-war-held-army-atrocities-widespread-corruption-as-prime-reasons-for-defeat-in-east-pakistan/1/246922.html  |journal=India Today|access-date=17 December 2011 }}</ref><ref name="BBC20000830">{{cite news |title=Bangladesh requests war report |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/903149.stm |work=BBC News |date=30 August 2000 |access-date=24 April 2011}}</ref> The First Report is still marked as classified, while the Supplementary Report's excerpts were suppressed by the news correspondents.<ref name="Lancer Publishers, Bhatt">{{cite book|last1=Bhatt|first1=Dr Arunkumar|title=Psychological Warfare and India|publisher=Lancer Publishers, Bhatt|isbn=9788170621331|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1whOBwAAQBAJ&q=hamoodur%20Rahman%20commission&pg=PA288|access-date=22 August 2016|language=en|date=2015-03-16}}</ref>{{rp|288–289}} The War Report's supplementary section was published by the Pakistan Government, but it did not officially hand over the report to Bangladesh despite its requests.<ref name="BBC Pakistan Bureau">{{cite news |title=Bangladesh requests war report |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/903149.stm |work=BBC News |date=30 August 2000 |access-date=24 August 2016}}</ref>
 
The War Report exposed many military failures, from the strategic to the tactical–intelligence levels, while it confirmed the looting, rapes and the unnecessary killings by the Pakistan military and their local agents.<ref name="Genocide">{{cite magazine |last=Halarnkar |first=Sameer |date=21 August 2000 |title=The Genesis of Defeat&nbsp;– How many Hindus have you killed? |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/1971-war-how-many-hindus-have-you-killed/1/246925.html |magazine=India Today |access-date=17 December 2011 }}</ref> It laid the blame squarely on Pakistan Army generals, accusing them of debauchery, smuggling, war crimes and neglect of duty.<ref name="Immorality">{{cite magazine |last=Halarnkar |first=Sameer |date=21 August 2000 |title=The Loss of Character&nbsp;– "Lust for wine, greed for houses" |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/1971-war-lust-for-wine-greed-for-houses/1/246931.html |magazine=India Today |access-date=17 December 2011}}</ref> The War Commission had recommended [[public trial]] of Pakistan Army generals on the charges that they had been responsible for the situation in the first place and that they had succumbed without a fight,<ref name="Cowardice">{{cite magazine |last=Halarnkar |first=Sameer |date=21 August 2000 |title=Bravado And Capitulation&nbsp;– "Further resistance is not humanly possible" |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/1971-war-further-resistance-is-not-humanly-possible/1/246934.html |magazine=India Today |access-date=17 December 2011}}</ref> but no actions were ever taken against those responsible, except the dismissal of chiefs of [[Gul Hassan Khan|the Pakistan Army]], [[Abdul Rahim Khan|Pakistan Air Force]], [[Muzaffar Hassan|Pakistan Navy]], and decommissioning of the Pakistan Marines.<ref name="IndiaToday2000" /><ref name="Cowardice"/>
 
The War Commission, however, rejected the charge that 200,000 Bengali girls were raped by the Pakistan Army, remarking, "It is clear that the figures mentioned by the Dacca authorities are altogether fantastic and fanciful," and cited the evidence of a British abortion team that had carried out the termination of "only a hundred or more pregnancies".<ref name="D'Costa2011"/><ref name=":0" /><ref>Hamoodur Rehman Commission (HRC) Report of Inquiry into the 1971 War (Vanguard Books Lahore, 513)</ref> The Commission also claimed that "approximately 26,000 persons (were) killed during the action by the Pakistan military"<ref name="D'Costa2011"/><ref name="deathcount-pakistani">[http://www.bangla2000.com/Bangladesh/Independence-War/Report-Hamoodur-Rahman/default.shtm Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816211333/http://www.bangla2000.com/bangladesh/Independence-War/Report-Hamoodur-Rahman/default.shtm |date=16 August 2016 }}, [http://www.bangla2000.com/Bangladesh/Independence-War/Report-Hamoodur-Rahman/chapter2.shtm chapter 2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012130637/http://www.bangla2000.com/Bangladesh/Independence-War/Report-Hamoodur-Rahman/chapter2.shtm |date=12 October 2014 }}, paragraph 33</ref>
[[Bina D'Costa]] states that the War Commission was aware of the military's brutality in East Pakistan, but "chose to downplay the scale of the atrocities committed."<ref name="D'Costa2011">{{citation|last=D'Costa|first=Bina|title=Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ivzKjY5LncIC&pg=PA76|year=2011|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-56566-0|pages=76–78}}</ref>
 
The second commission was known as [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Prisoners of War Investigation]], conducted solely by the Pakistani government, that was to determine the numbers of Pakistani military personnel who surrendered, including the number of civilian POWs.<ref name="BBC News, India Pakistan">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/south_asia/2002/india_pakistan/timeline/1971.stm |title=India Pakistan &#124; Timeline |work=BBC News |access-date=27 November 2015}}</ref> The official number of the surrendered military personnel was soon released by the Government of Pakistan after the war was over.<ref name="BBC News, India Pakistan"/>
 
===India: Indo-Pakistani summits===
{{Main|Simla Agreement|l1=Agreement Between the Government of India and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on Bilateral Relations|Delhi Agreement|l2=Transfer of Population Under the Terms of the Delhi Agreement}}
On 2 July 1972, the [[Indo-Pakistani relation|Indo-Pakistani summit]] was held in [[Simla]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], India where the [[Simla Agreement]] was reached and signed between [[President of Pakistan|President]] [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] and [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] [[Indira Gandhi]].<ref name=MEA_site>{{cite web|title=Simla Agreement|url=http://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/5541/Simla+Agreement|website=Bilateral/Multilateral Documents|publisher=Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India|access-date=27 September 2013}}</ref> The treaty provided insurance to Bangladesh that Pakistan recognised Bangladesh's sovereignty, in exchange for the return of the Pakistani POWs.<ref name="time20Dec71" />  Over the next five months, India released more than 90,000 war prisoners, with Lieutenant-General A.A.K. Niazi being the last war prisoner to be handed over to Pakistan.<ref name="time20Dec71" />
 
The treaty also gave back more than 13,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> of land that the Indian Army had seized in Pakistan during the war, though India retained a few strategic areas, including [[Turtuk]], [[Dhothang]], [[Takshi|Tyakshi]] (earlier called Tiaqsi) and [[Chalunka]] of [[Chorbat Valley]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thewire.in/politics/turtuk-story-of-a-promise-land|title=Turtuk, a Promised Land Between Two Hostile Neighbours|website=The Wire}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://scroll.in/article/815863/an-encounter-with-the-king-of-turtuk-a-border-village-near-gilgit-baltistan|title=An encounter with the 'king' of Turtuk, a border village near Gilgit-Baltistan|first=qz com|last=Rajrishi Singhal|website=Scroll.in}}</ref> which was more than 804&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/nkoE1dc52oYwoWRNmhEeYK/A-portrait-of-a-village-on-the-border.html|title=A portrait of a village on the border|date=10 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=22 December 2011 |title=Have you heard about this Indian Hero? |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-the-hero-of-nubra/20111222.htm#5 |work=Rediff.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.storyofpakistan.com/articletext.asp?artid=A109&Pg=6 |title=The Simla Agreement 1972 |website=Story of Pakistan |access-date=20 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614014904/http://www.storyofpakistan.com/articletext.asp?artid=A109&Pg=6 |archive-date=14 June 2011}}</ref> The Indian hardliners, however, felt that the treaty had been too lenient to President Bhutto, who had pleaded for leniency, arguing that the fragile stability in Pakistan would crumble if the accord was perceived as being overly harsh by Pakistanis and that he would be accused of losing Kashmir in addition to the loss of East Pakistan.<ref name="mosq-mill" /> As a result, Prime Minister Gandhi was criticised by a section in India for believing Bhutto's "sweet talk and false vows", while the other section claimed the agreement to be successful, for not letting it to fall into "[[Treaty of Versailles|Versailles Syndrome]]” trap.<ref>{{cite news |date=9 June 2014 |title=The collapse of the Shimla Accord |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-collapse-of-the-shimla-accord/ }}</ref>
 
In 1973, India and Pakistan reached another compromise when both countries signed a trilateral agreement with Bangladesh that actually brought the war prisoners, non-Bengali and Pakistan-loyal Bengali bureaucrats and civilian servants to Pakistan.<ref name="UNCHR">{{cite web|last=UN|title=Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|url=http://www.unhcr.org/print/3ae68c6f0.html|website=UNCHR|publisher=UNCHR|access-date=16 February 2013}}</ref> The [[Delhi Agreement]] witnessed the largest mass [[population transfer]] since the [[Partition of India]] in 1947.<ref>{{cite book |title=Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan:his life and times |author=Stanley Walpert |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1993 |isbn=9780195076615 |url=https://archive.org/details/zulfibhuttoofpak00wolp }}</ref>
 
===Bangladesh: International Crimes Tribunal===
 
In 2009, the issue of establishing the [[International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)|International Crimes Tribunal]] began to take public support. The tribunal was formally established in 2010 to investigate and prosecute suspects for the genocide committed in 1971 by the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators, ''Razakars'', ''Al-Badr'' and ''Al-Shams'' during the Bangladesh Liberation War.<ref>Wierda, Marieke; Anthony Triolo (31 May 2012). [[Luc Reydams]]; Jan Wouters; Cedric Ryngaert, eds. International Prosecutors. Oxford University Press. p. 169. {{ISBN|978-0199554294}}.</ref>{{rp|169}}
 
== Long-term consequences ==
* [[Steve Coll]], in his book ''[[Ghost Wars]]'', argues that the Pakistan military's experience with India, including [[Pervez Musharraf]]'s experience in 1971, influenced the Pakistani government to support [[jihadist]] groups in [[Afghanistan]] even after [[Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan|the Soviets left]], because the jihadists were a tool to use against India, including bogging down the Indian Army in [[Kashmir]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Coll|first=Steve|title=Ghost Wars|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ToYxFL5wmBIC|year=2005|publisher=The Penguin Press|isbn=978-1-59420-007-6}} pg 221, 475.</ref><ref>[http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people5/Coll/coll-con0.html Kreisler interview with Coll "Conversations with history", 25 March 2005], UC Berkeley Institute of International Studies</ref>
* Writing about the war in ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'' magazine, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto stated "There is no parallel in contemporary history to the cataclysm which engulfed Pakistan in 1971. A tragic civil war, which rent asunder the people of the two parts of Pakistan, was seized by India as an opportunity for armed intervention. The country was dismembered, its economy shattered and the nation's self-confidence totally undermined."<ref name="FA197304">{{cite magazine |last=Bhutto |first=Zulfikar Ali |date=April 1973 |title=Pakistan Builds Anew |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/24423/zulfikar-ali-bhutto/pakistan-builds-anew |magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]] |access-date=8 July 2011}}</ref> This statement of Bhutto has given rise to the myth of betrayal prevalent in modern Pakistan. This view was contradicted by the post-War Hamoodur Rahman Commission, ordered by Bhutto himself, which in its 1974 report indicted generals of the Pakistan Army for creating conditions which led to the eventual loss of East Pakistan and for inept handling of military operations in the East.<ref name="IndiaToday2000" />
 
== Military awards ==
 
=== Battle honours ===
After the war, 41 [[battle honour]]s and 4 [[theatre honour]]s were awarded to units of the Indian Army; notable among them are:<ref name="Sarbans">{{cite book|title=Battle Honours of the Indian Army 1757&nbsp;– 1971|last=Singh|first=Sarbans|year=1993|publisher=Vision Books|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-7094-115-6|pages=257–278|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ATfAAAAMAAJ|access-date=3 November 2011}}</ref><br />
{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
* East Pakistan 1971 (theatre honour)
* Sindh 1971 (theatre honour)
* Jammu and Kashmir 1971 (theatre honour)
* Punjab 1971 (theatre honour)
* Basantar River
* Bogra
* Chachro
{{col-3}}
* Chhamb
* Defence of Punch
* Dera Baba Nanak
* Gadra City
* Harar Kalan
* Hilli
{{col-3}}
* Longewala
* Parbat Ali
* Poongli Bridge
* Shehjra
* Shingo River Valley
* Sylhet
{{col-end}}
 
=== Gallantry awards ===
For bravery, a number of soldiers and officers on both sides were awarded the highest gallantry award of their respective countries. Following is a list of the recipients of the Indian award [[Param Vir Chakra]], Bangladeshi award [[Bir Sreshtho]] and the Pakistani award [[Nishan-E-Haider]]:
 
====India====
Recipients of the Param Vir Chakra:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nda.nic.in/html/nda-martyrs.html |title=Martyrs |publisher=National Defense Academy, Pune |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929182428/http://nda.nic.in/html/nda-martyrs.html |archive-date=29 September 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://india.gov.in/myindia/paramvirchakra_awards_list1.php|title=Param Vir Chakra|publisher=Government of India}}</ref>
* [[Lance Naik]] [[Albert Ekka]] (Posthumously)
* [[Flying Officer]] [[Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon]] (Posthumously)
* [[Major]] [[Hoshiar Singh]]
* [[Second Lieutenant]] [[Arun Khetarpal]] (Posthumously)
 
====Bangladesh====
Recipients of the Bir Sreshtho:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=National_Awards|title=National Awards|last=Khan|first=Sanjida|website=Banglapedia|access-date=2018-07-08|quote=Through a gazette notification of the government issued on 15 December 1973, the insignia of Bir Srestha was conferred upon seven martyr freedom fighters (posthumously)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rahman |first=Rifaat |date=4 December 2015 |title=Swadhinata Chattar built as memorial to seven Liberation War heroes ruined by encroachers |url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2015/12/04/swadhinata-chattar-built-as-memorial-to-seven-liberation-war-heroes-ruined-by-encroachers |work=bdnews24.com |access-date=2018-07-08 |quote=Inside, there are separate plaques for Bir Shrestha Captain Mohiuddin Jahangir, Bir Shrestha Flight Lt Motiur Rahman, Bir Shrestha Sepoy Mostofa Kamal, Bir Shrestha Sepoy Hamidur Rahman, Bir Shrestha Lance Naik Munshi Abdur Rouf, Bir Shrestha Ruhul Amin, and Bir Shrestha Lance Naik Nur Mohammad Sheikh.}}</ref>
* [[Captain (armed forces)|Captain]] [[Mohiuddin Jahangir]] (Posthumously)
* [[Lance Naik]] [[Munshi Abdur Rouf]] (Posthumously)
* [[Sepoy]] [[Hamidur Rahman]] (Posthumously)
* [[Sepoy]] [[Mostafa Kamal (Bir Sreshtho)|Mostafa Kamal]] (Posthumously)
* ERA [[Mohammad Ruhul Amin]] (Posthumously)
* [[Flight Lieutenant]] [[Matiur Rahman (military pilot)|Matiur Rahman]] (Posthumously)
* [[Lance Naik]] [[Nur Mohammad Sheikh]] (Posthumously)
 
====Pakistan====
 
Recipients of the Nishan-E-Haider:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pakistanpaedia.com/celeb/nh/celeb_1.htm|title=Nishan-e-Haider holders of Pakistan Army}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shaheedfoundation.org/nishanehaider.asp |title=Nishan-e-Haider |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812211253/http://www.shaheedfoundation.org/nishanehaider.asp |archive-date=12 August 2014}}</ref>
* [[Major]] [[Muhammad Akram]] (Posthumously)
* [[Pilot Officer]] [[Rashid Minhas]] (Posthumously)
* [[Major]] [[Shabbir Sharif]] (Posthumously)
* [[Sarwar]] [[Sawar Muhammad Hussain|Muhammad Hussain]] (Posthumously)
* [[Lance Naik]] [[Muhammad Mahfuz]] (Posthumously)
 
==Civilian awards==
On 25 July 2011, Bangladesh Swadhinata Sammanona, the Bangladesh Freedom Honour, was posthumously conferred on former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.<ref>{{cite news  |last=Habib |first=Haroon |author-link=Haroon Habib |date=25 July 2011 |title=Bangladesh honours Indira Gandhi with highest award |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/bangladesh-honours-indira-gandhi-with-highest-award/article2293016.ece |newspaper=The Hindu}}</ref>
 
[[R. M. Muzumdar]] - [[IOFS]] officer. Second Indian Director General of the Indian Ordnance Factories. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India, in 1973, in the Civil service category, for his contributions during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
 
[[O. P. Bahl]], an [[IOFS]] officer. Former Additional Director General Ordnance Factories and Member of the [[Ordnance Factory Board]]. Received [[Padma Shri]], in 1972 in the civil-service category for his efforts during the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/govt-offers-to-form-committee-of-unions-to-think-over/articleshow/70811672.cms|title=Govt offers to form committee, OF unions to think over &#124; Nagpur News - Times of India|website=The Times of India}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.india.gov.in/myindia/padmashri_awards_list1.php?start=1810|title=Padma Shri Awardees|website=Government of India|access-date=17 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/at-200-yr-old-ordnance-factories-anxiety-anticipation-and-some-sulk/articleshow/71613086.cms|title=At India's 200-year-old ordnance factories, anxiety and anticipation &#124; India News - Times of India|website=The Times of India}}</ref>
 
On 28 March 2012, [[President of Bangladesh]] [[Zillur Rahman]] and the [[Prime Minister of Bangladesh|Prime Minister]] [[Sheikh Hasina]] conferred Bangladesh Liberation War Honour and Friends of Liberation War Honour to 75 people, six organisations, [[Mitra Bahini]] and the [[Indian people|people of India]] at a special ceremony at the [[Bangabandhu International Conference Center|Bangabandhu International Conference Centre]], Dhaka.  This included eight heads of states: former [[President of Nepal|Nepalese President]] [[Ram Baran Yadav]], the third [[King of Bhutan]] [[Jigme Dorji Wangchuck]], former Soviet General Secretary [[Leonid Brezhnev|Leonid IIyich Brezhnev]], former Soviet head of state [[Nikolai Podgorny|Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny]], former Soviet Prime Minister [[Alexei Kosygin|Alexei Nikolaevich Kosygin]], former Yugoslav President [[Marshal Josip Broz Tito]], former [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|UK Prime Minister]] [[Edward Heath|Sir Edward Richard George Heath]] and former [[Prime Minister of Nepal|Nepalese Prime Minister]] [[Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala]].  The organisations include the [[BBC]], [[All India Radio|Akashbani (All India Radio)]], [[International Committee of the Red Cross]], [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]], [[Oxfam]] and [[University of Calcutta|Kolkata University]] Shahayak Samiti.
 
The list of foreign friends of Bangladesh has since been extended to 568 people.  It includes 257 Indians, 88 Americans, 41 Pakistanis, 39 Britons, 9 Russians, 18 Nepalese, 16 French and 18 Japanese.<ref>{{cite news |date=28 March 2012 |title=Friends of freedom honoured |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=228046 |newspaper=The Daily Star}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=28 March 2012 |title=B'desh honours foreign friends |url=http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=124849&date=2012-03-28 |location=Dhaka |newspaper=The Financial Express}}</ref>
 
== In media==
===Films===
* ''[[Hindustan Ki Kasam]]'', a 1973 [[Bollywood]] war film directed by [[Chetan Anand (director)|Chetan Anand]] about [[Operation Cactus Lilly]].<ref name="TOI_top10_films"/>
* ''[[Aakraman]]'', 1975 Bollywood film set during this war featuring a romantic [[love triangle]].
* ''[[Border (1997 film)|Border]]'', a 1997 Bollywood war film directed by [[J.P.Dutta]]. This movie is an adaptation from real life events that happened at the [[Battle of Longewala]] fought in [[Rajasthan]] (Western Theatre).<ref name="TOI_top10_films">{{cite news|title=Top 10 films on Indo-Pak conflict|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/top-lists/top-10-films-on-indo-pak-conflict/videols/7824538.cms|access-date=28 July 2012|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=30 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511042921/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/top-lists/top-10-films-on-indo-pak-conflict/videols/7824538.cms|archive-date=11 May 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/border-director-jp-dutta-pays-tributes-paid-to-brig-chandpuri/articleshow/71557191.cms|title='Border' director JP Dutta pays tribute to Brig Chandpuri &#124; Chandigarh News |work=The Times of India}}</ref>
*''[[16 December (film)|16 December]]'', 2002 film directed by [[Mani Shankar]].
* ''[[1971 (2007 film)|1971 – Prisoners of War]]'', a 2007 Bollywood war film directed by [[Amrit Sagar]]. Set against the backdrop of a [[prisoner-of-war camp]] in Pakistan, it follows six Indian prisoners awaiting release after their capture in the 1971 India-Pakistan war.<ref name="TOI_top10_films"/>
* ''[[The Ghazi Attack]]'', a 2017 war film directed by [[Sankalp Reddy]]. It is based on the sinking of [[PNS Ghazi]] during the war.
* ''[[1971: Beyond Borders]]'', a 2017 Indian war drama film written and directed by [[Major Ravi]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/malayalam/movie-reviews/1971-beyond-borders/movie-review/58063353.cms|title=1971: Beyond Borders Review {3.5/5}: The film puts across the message that fighting wars for "borders and orders" robs away so many lives needlessly|work=The Times of India|access-date=2017-06-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/malayalam/movies/news/the-thrill-lies-in-being-the-first-person-to-do-something-that-has-not-been-done-before-mohanlal/articleshow/57839218.cms|title=The thrill lies in being the first person to do something that has not been done before: Mohanlal|work=The Times of India}}</ref>
*''[[Raazi]]'', 2017 fictional spy film set before the events of war about the detection of plan to deploy PNS Ghazi<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/That-spy-princess/article15446864.ece|title=That spy princess!|date=2008-05-03|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-05-10|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>
*''[[Romeo Akbar Walter]]'', 2019 spy film.
*''[[Bhuj: The Pride of India]]'', 2021 action film set during the war.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/sanjay-dutt-rana-daggubati-sonakshi-sinha-bhuj-the-pride-of-india-cast-5635383/|date=20 March 2019|language=en|work=The Indian Express|title=Bhuj The Pride of India: Sanjay Dutt, Sharad Kelkar and Sonakshi Sinha join Ajay Devgn's film|access-date=25 June 2019}}</ref>
 
===Short films===
* ''Mukti: Birth of a Nation'', a 2017 short film directed by Manu Chobe depicts the negotiations between Major General [[J. F. R. Jacob]] and Lieutenant General [[A. A. K. Niazi]] over the [[Pakistani Instrument of Surrender]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.news18.com/news/movies/mukti-birth-of-a-nation-showcases-history-of-indian-military-during-1971-1494717.html|title=Mukti – Birth of a Nation Showcases History of Indian Military During 1971|date=18 August 2017|work=News18}}</ref>
 
===Miniseries/Dramas===
* ''[[PNS Ghazi (Shaheed)|PNS Ghazi]]'', an [[Urdu]] (Pakistani) drama based on sinking of {{ship|PNS|Ghazi||6}}, [[Inter-Services Public Relations|ISPR]]
 
== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Post–World War II air-to-air combat losses]]
* [[List of aerial victories during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]]
* [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]]
* [[Separatism in Pakistan|Separatist nationalism in Pakistan]]
** [[Muslim nationalism in South Asia]]
*** [[Pakistani nationalism]]
*** [[Conservatism in Pakistan]]
*** [[Socialism in Pakistan]]
* [[Bangladesh Forces]]
* [[Timeline of the Bangladesh War]]
* [[Radcliffe Line]]
* [[India and state-sponsored terrorism]]
* [[United States Pakistan relations|United States–Pakistan relations before 1990]]
* [[Soviet Union-Pakistan relations|Soviet Union-Pakistan relations before 1990]]
* [[Tridev Roy]]
* [[Operation Searchlight]]\[[Operation Barisal|Barisal]]
* [[Riverine Warfare]]
* [[1969 uprising in East Pakistan|Protest of 1969 in Pakistan]]
* [[History of the Pakistan Air Force|Pakistan Air Force in East Pakistan]]
* [[Media of Pakistan|Pakistan news media in Indo-Pakistani war of 1971]]
* [[International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)]]
* [[Indian Army#Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971|Indian Army in East Pakistan]]
* [[Pakistan-Afghanistan relations]]
* [[Indo-Pakistani War (1971) prisoners of war|1971 Winter POWs/MIA Investigations, Pakistan]]
* [[Pakistan Armed Forces deployments|Pakistan military deployments in other countries]]
* [[Pakistan and its Nuclear Deterrent Program]]
{{div col end}}
 
===General===
* [[History of Bangladesh]]
* [[History of Myanmar]]
* [[List of conflicts in Asia]]
{{clear}}
 
== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
 
== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |title=Pakistaniaat: Special issue on 1971 War |year=2010 |editor=Cilano, Cara|title-link=Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies }}
* {{cite book |last=Hanhimäki|first=Jussi M.|title=The Flawed Architect: Henry Kissinger and American Foreign Policy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3wolOABSg_YC&pg=PP1|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-517221-8}}
* Hayes, Jarrod.  "Securitization, social identity, and democratic security: Nixon, India, and the ties that bind." ''International Organization'' 66.1 (2012): 63-93.  [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jarrod_Hayes/publication/241754960_Securitization_Social_Identity_and_Democratic_Security_Nixon_India_and_the_Ties_That_Bind/links/55a50fd008ae00cf99c94313.pdf online]
* {{cite book |last=Haqqani|first=Hussain|title=Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYppZ_dEjdIC|year=2005|publisher=United Book Press|isbn=978-0-87003-214-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Niazi|first=General A. A. K.|title=Betrayal of East Pakistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYppZ_dEjdIC&pg=PP1|year=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0-19-579275-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Palit|first=D K|title=The Lightning Campaign: The Indo-Pakistan War 1971|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rPmTAAAACAAJ|year=1972|publisher=Compton Press Ltd|isbn=978-0-900193-10-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Raghavan |first=Srinath |date=2013 |title=1971– A global History of Creation of Bangladesh |url=http://shibir.info/pdf/1971_a_global_history_of_the_creation_of_bangladesh.pdf |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-72864-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Raja |first=Dewan Mohammad Tasawwar |title=O General My General (Life and Works of General M A G Osmany)|year=2010|publisher=The Osmany Memorial Trust, Dhaka, Bangladesh|isbn=978-984-8866-18-4 }}
* {{cite book |last=Saigal|first=J R|title=Pakistan Splits: The Birth of Bangladesh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gUfaAAAACAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Manas Publications|isbn=9788170491248}}
* Warner, Geoffrey.  "Nixon, Kissinger and the breakup of Pakistan, 1971." ''International Affairs'' 81.5 (2005): 1097-1118.
 
==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8MO52QQ6_o Video of General Niazi Surrendering]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050802085547/http://www.freeindia.org/1971war/ A complete coverage of the war from the Indian perspective]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081029150607/http://www.ndu.edu/nesa/docs/Gill%20Atlas%20Final%20Version.pdf An Atlas of the 1971 India&nbsp;– Pakistan War: The Creation of Bangladesh by John H. Gill]
* [http://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/xi/ Actual conversation from the then US President Nixon and Henry Kissinger during the 1971 War]&nbsp;– [[US Department of State]]'s Official archive.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050213035604/http://indianarmy.nic.in/armajop.htm Indian Army: Major Operations]
* [http://www.icdc.com/%7Epaulwolf/pakistan/pakistan.htm Pakistan: Partition and Military Succession USA Archives]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/3/newsid_2519000/2519133.stm Pakistan intensifies air raid on India BBC]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050906140622/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/1971/ A day by day account of the war as seen in a virtual newspaper.]
* [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB79/ The Tilt: The U.S. and the South Asian Crisis of 1971.]
* [http://www.dawn.com/weekly/ayaz/20051216.htm ''16 December 1971: any lessons learned?'' By Ayaz Amir]&nbsp;– Pakistan's [[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]
* [https://archive.today/20061015201345/http://www.vidyasoft.com/interest/war/war71.html India-Pakistan 1971 War as covered by TIME]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061020233036/http://orbat.com/site/cimh/iaf/IAF_1971_kills_rev1.pdf Indian Air Force Combat Kills in the 1971 war (unofficial), Centre for Indian Military History]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926234047/http://frontierindia.net/op-cactus-lilly-19-infantry-division-in-1971/ Op Cactus Lilly: 19 Infantry Division in 1971, a personal recall by Lt Col Balwant Singh Sahore]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926233932/http://frontierindia.net/all-for-a-bottle-of-scotch/ All for a bottle of Scotch, a personal recall of Major (later Major General) C K Karumbaya, SM, the battle for Magura]
* {{cite news|title=The Rediff Interview/Lt Gen A A Khan Niazi|date=2 February 2004|work=Rediff|url=http://www.rediff.com/../news/2004/feb/02inter1.htm}}
 
{{1971 Indo-Pak War}}
{{1971 Bangladesh genocide}}
{{Bangladesh Liberation War}}
{{Military of India}}
{{Pakistani Armed Forces}}
{{Secession in Countries}}
{{Bangladesh–Pakistan relations}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Portal bar|India|Pakistan|War}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indo-Pakistani War Of 1971}}
[[Category:Indo-Pakistani War of 1971| ]]
[[Category:Indo-Pakistani wars]]
[[Category:Bangladesh Liberation War]]
[[Category:1971 in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:1971 in India]]
[[Category:1971 in Pakistan]]
[[Category:1971 in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1971]]
[[Category:East Pakistan]]
[[Category:Anti-Pakistan sentiment]]
[[Category:Wars involving Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Wars involving Pakistan]]
[[Category:Wars involving Pakistan]]
[[Category:Wars involving India]]
[[Category:1971 in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:History of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:1970s in India]]
[[Category:Post-independence history of Pakistan]]
[[Category:1970s conflicts]]
[[Category:Separatism in Pakistan]]
[[Category:History of the Indian Army]]
[[Category:Research and Analysis Wing]]
[[Category:Foreign intervention]]
[[Category:Dissolutions of countries]]
[[Category:December 1971 events in Asia]]
[[Category:Attacks in Bangladesh]]

Revision as of 02:09, 23 August 2022

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Part of the Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts and Bangladesh Liberation War

First Row: Lt-Gen. A.A.K. Niazi, the Cdr. of Pakistani Eastern Comnd., signing the documented instrument in Dacca in the presence of Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora (GOC-in-C of Indian Eastern Comnd.). Surojit Sen of All India Radio is seen holding a microphone on the right.
Second Row (left to right): Vice Adm. N. Krishnan (FOC-in-C Eastern Naval Comnd.), Air Mshl. H.C. Dewan, (AOC-in-C Eastern Air Comnd., Lt Gen. Sagat Singh (Cdr. IV Corps), Maj Gen. JFR Jacob (COS Eastern Comnd.) and Flt Lt Krishnamurthy (peering over Jacob‘s shoulder).
Date3–16 December 1971 (13 days)
Location
Eastern Front:

Western Front:

Result Decisive Indian victory[1][2][3]
Eastern front:
Surrender of East Pakistan military command
Western front:
Unilateral ceasefire
Territorial
changes

Eastern Front:

Western Front:

  • Indian forces captured around 15,010 km2 (5,795 sq mi) of land in the West but returned it in the 1972 Simla Agreement as a gesture of goodwill.[4][5][6]
Belligerents

 India

Bangladesh Provisional Government of Bangladesh

Template:Country data Soviet UnionTemplate:Preview warning Soviet Union

 Pakistan

Pakistan East Pakistan

United States United States

United Kingdom United Kingdom

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka

Iran Pahlavi Iran

France France

Turkey Turkey

China China

Israel Israel
Commanders and leaders
India Indira Gandhi
(Prime Minister of India)
India V. V. Giri
(President of India)
India Swaran Singh
(External Minister of India)
India Jagjivan Ram
(Defence Minister of India)
Gen Sam Manekshaw
(Chief of Army Staff)
Lt.Gen J.S. Arora
(GOC-in-C, Eastern Command)
Lt.Gen G.G. Bewoor
(GOC-in-C, Southern Command)
Lt.Gen K. P. Candeth
(GOC-in-C, Western Command)
Lt.Gen Premindra Bhagat
(GOC-in-C, Central Command)
Lt.Gen Sagat Singh
(GOC-in-C, IV Corps)
Lt.Gen T. N. Raina
(GOC-in-C, II Corps)
Lt.Gen Sartaj Singh
(GOC-in-C, XV Corps)
Lt.Gen Karan Singh
(GOC-in-C, I Corps)
MajGen Farj R. Jacob
(COS, Eastern Command)
MajGen Om Malhotra
(COS, IV Corps)
MajGen Inderjit Singh Gill
(Dir, Military Operations)
Adm S. M. Nanda
(Chief of Naval Staff)
VAdm S. N. Kohli
(Cdr. Western Naval Command)
VAdm N. Krishnan
(Cdr. Eastern Naval Command)
RAdm S H Sarma
(Cdr. Eastern Fleet)
ACM Pratap C. Lal
(Chief of Air Staff)
Rameshwar Kao
(Director of RAW)
Bangladesh Tajuddin Ahmad
(PM Provisional Government)
Bangladesh Col. M.A.G. Osmani
(Commander, Mukti Bahini)		 Pakistan Yahya Khan
(President of Pakistan)
Pakistan Nurul Amin
(Prime Minister of Pakistan)
Gen. A.H. Khan
(Chief of Staff, Army GHQ)
Lt.Gen A.A.K. NiaziTemplate:Surrendered
(Commander, Eastern Command)
Lt.Gen Gul Hassan Khan
(Chief of General Staff)
Lt.Gen Abdul Ali Malik
(Commander, I Corps)
Lt.Gen Tikka Khan
(Commander, II Corps)
Lt.Gen Sher Khan
(Commander, IV Corps)
MGen Iftikhar Janjua †
(GOC, 23rd Infantry Division)
MGen Khadim Hussain
(GOC, 14th Infantry Division)
VAdm Muzaffar Hassan
(Cdr-in-Chief, Navy)
RAdm Rashid Ahmed
(COS, Navy NHQ)
RAdm Moh'd Shariff Template:Surrendered
(Cdr, Eastern Naval Command)
RAdm M.A.K. Lodhi
(Cdr, Western Naval Command)
RAdm Leslie Norman
(Commander, Pakistan Marines)
AM Abdul Rahim Khan
(Cdr-in-Chief, Air Force)
AVM P.D. Callaghan
(Chief Ins, Pakistan Air Force)
Air Cdre Inamul HaqTemplate:Surrendered
(Cdr Eastern Air Command)
Gp.Capt. Z.A. KhanTemplate:Surrendered
(COS, Air AHQ Dhaka)
Abdul Motaleb Malik Template:Surrendered
(Governor of East Pakistan)
Strength
Indian Armed Forces: 1,000,000[7]
Mukti Bahini: 180,000[8]
Total: 1,180,000		 Pakistan Armed Forces: 350,000[7]
Casualties and losses

 India
2,500[9]–3,843 killed[10][11]
9,851[10]–12,000[12] injured

Pakistani claims

Indian claims

Neutral claims

 Pakistan
9,000 killed[22]
25,000 wounded[12]
93,000 captured
2 Destroyers
1 Minesweeper
1 Submarine[23]
3 Patrol vessels
7 Gunboats

  • Pakistani main port Karachi facilities damaged/fuel tanks destroyed[24]
  • Pakistani airfields damaged and cratered[25]

Pakistani claims

Indian claims

Neutral claims

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Lasting just 13 days, it is considered one of the shortest wars in history.[27][28]

During the war, Indian and Pakistani forces fought on the eastern and western fronts. The war effectively came to an end after the Eastern Command of the Pakistani Armed Forces signed the Instrument of Surrender (1971) on December 16, 1971.[29][30] After the surrender, East Pakistan seceded as the independent state of Bangladesh. Around 97,368 West Pakistanis who were in East Pakistan at the time of its independence, including some 79,700 Pakistan Army soldiers and paramilitary personnel[31] and 12,500 civilians,[31] were taken as prisoners of war by India.

Western and Soviet involvement

The Blood Telegram

The Soviet Union sided with the Bangladeshis, and supported the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini during the war. The Soviets thought that the independence of Bangladesh would weaken the position of its rivals—the United States and China. The USSR gave assurances to India that if a confrontation with the United States or China developed, it would take counter-measures. This assurance was enshrined in the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty signed in August 1971.[32]

The United States supported Pakistan politically and with supplies. President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger feared Soviet expansion into South and Southeast Asia.[33] Pakistan was a close ally of the People's Republic of China, with whom Nixon had been negotiating a rapprochement. Nixon was planning to visit China in February 1972. Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of West Pakistan would give the Soviets control over the region. It would seriously undermine the global position of the United States and the regional position of America's new tacit ally, China. In order to demonstrate to China the bona fides of the United States as an ally, Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan, routing them through Jordan and Iran,[34] while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan. The Nixon administration also ignored reports it received of the "genocidal" activities of the Pakistani Army in East Pakistan, most notably the Blood telegram. This prompted widespread criticism and condemnation both by Congress and in the international press.[35][36][37] The United States introduced a resolution in the UN Security Council calling for a cease-fire and the withdrawal of armed forces by India and Pakistan. It was vetoed by the Soviet Union. In the following days Nixon and Kissinger tried to get India to withdraw, but they did not succeed.[38]

President Nixon requested Iran and Jordan to send their F-86, F-104 and F-5 fighter jets in aid of Pakistan.[39]

When Pakistan's defeat in the eastern sector seemed certain, Nixon deployed a carrier battle group led by the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise into the Bay of Bengal. The Enterprise and its escort ships arrived on station on 11 December 1971. According to a Russian documentary, the United Kingdom deployed a carrier battle group led by the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle to the Bay.[40]

On 6 December and 13 December, the Soviet Navy dispatched two groups of cruisers and destroyers and a submarine armed with nuclear missiles from Vladivostok;[32] they trailed U.S. Task Force 74 into the Indian Ocean from 18 December 1971 until 7 January 1972. The Soviets also had a nuclear submarine to help ward off the threat posed by USS Enterprise task force in the Indian Ocean.[41][42]

References

  1. ↑ Lyon, Peter (2008). Conflict between India and Pakistan: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-57607-712-2. India's decisive victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war and emergence of independent Bangladesh dramatically transformed the power balance of South Asia
  2. ↑ Kemp, Geoffrey (2010). The East Moves West India, China, and Asia's Growing Presence in the Middle East. Brookings Institution Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-8157-0388-4. However, India's decisive victory over Pakistan in 1971 led the Shah to pursue closer relations with India
  3. ↑ Byman, Daniel (2005). Deadly connections: States that Sponsor Terrorism. Cambridge University Press. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-521-83973-0. India's decisive victory in 1971 led to the signing of the Simla Agreement in 1972
  4. ↑ Nawaz, Shuja (2008). Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within. Oxford University Press. p. 329. ISBN 978-0-19-547697-2.
  5. ↑ Chitkara, M. G (1996). Benazir, a Profile – M. G. Chitkara. ISBN 9788170247524. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  6. ↑ Schofield, Victoria (18 January 2003). Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War – Victoria Schofield. ISBN 9781860648984. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Dixit, J.N. (2 September 2003). India-Pakistan in War and Peace. Routledge. ISBN 1134407572. while the size of the Indian armed forces remained static at one million men and Pakistan's at around 350,000.
  8. ↑ Rashiduzzaman, M. (March 1972). "Leadership, Organization, Strategies and Tactics of the Bangla Desh Movement". Asian Survey. 12 (3): 191. doi:10.2307/2642872. JSTOR 2642872. The Pakistan Government, however, claimed [in June 1971] that the combined fighting strength of the 'secessionists' amounted to about 180,000 armed personnel.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Leonard, Thomas M. (2006). Encyclopedia of the Developing World. Taylor & Francis. p. 806. ISBN 978-0-415-97664-0.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "This Vijay Diwas, remember the sacrifices and do good by our disabled soldiers". Times of India. 16 December 2018. Archived from the original on 17 December 2018. About 3,843 Indian soldiers died in this war that resulted in the unilateral surrender of the Pakistan Army and led to the creation of Bangladesh. Among the soldiers who returned home triumphant were also 9,851 injured; many of them disabled.
  11. ↑ Vulnerable India: A Geographical Study of Disaster By Anu Kapur
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Air Warfare, edited by Chris Bishop (Amber publishing 1997, republished 2004 pages 384–387 ISBN 1-904687-26-1)
  13. ↑ "Chapter 10: Naval Operations In The Western Naval Command". Indian Navy. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012.
  14. ↑ "Damage Assessment– 1971 Indo Pak Naval War". Orbat.com. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  15. ↑ "Pakistan Air Force Combat Expirence". Global Security. 9 July 2011. Pakistan retaliated by causing extensive damage through a single B-57 attack on Indian naval base Okha. The bombs scored direct hits on fuel dumps, ammunition dump and the missile boats jetty.
  16. ↑ Dr. He Hemant Kumar Pandey & Manish Raj Singh (1 August 2017). INDIA'S MAJOR MILITARY & RESCUE OPERATIONS. Horizon Books ( A Division of Ignited Minds Edutech P Ltd), 2017. p. 117.
  17. ↑ Col Y Udaya Chandar (Retd) (2 January 2018). Independent India's All the Seven Wars. Notion Press, 2018.
  18. ↑ Air Chief Marshal P C Lal (1986). My Days with the IAF. Lancer. p. 286. ISBN 978-81-7062-008-2.
  19. ↑ "The Battle of Longewala—The Truth". India Defence Update. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011.
  20. ↑ "Pakistan Air Force – Official website". Paf.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 15 December 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "IAF Combat Kills – 1971 Indo-Pak Air War" (PDF). orbat.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  22. ↑ Leonard, Thomas M. (2006). Encyclopedia of the developing world, Volume 1. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-97662-6.
  23. ↑ "The Sinking of the Ghazi". Bharat Rakshak Monitor, 4(2). Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  24. ↑ "How west was won...on the waterfront". The Tribune. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  25. ↑ "India – Pakistan War, 1971; Western Front, Part I". acig.com. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  26. ↑ "Aircraft Losses in Pakistan - 1971 War". Archived from the original on 1 May 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
  27. ↑ The World: India: Easy Victory, Uneasy Peace Archived 2013-01-10 at the Wayback Machine, Time (magazine), 1971-12-27
  28. ↑ World’s shortest war lasted for only 45 minutes, Pravda, 2007-03-10
  29. ↑ [1],
  30. ↑ 1971 War: 'I will give you 30 minutes'. Sify.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-14.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Haqqani, Hussain (2005). Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military. United Book Press. ISBN 0-87003-223-2., Chapter 3, pp 87.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "1971 India Pakistan War: Role of Russia, China, America and Britain". The World Reporter. 30 October 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
  33. ↑ "Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume E-7, Documents on South Asia, 1969–1972". US State Department. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  34. ↑ Stephen R Shalom. "The Men Behind Yahya in the Indo-Pak War of 1971". Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  35. ↑ "The U.S.: A Policy in Shambles". Time Magazine, 20 December 1971. 20 December 1971. Archived from the original on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  36. ↑ Hanhimäki, Jussi (2004). The flawed architect: Henry Kissinger and American foreign policy. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-517221-8.
  37. ↑ "The Nixon Administration's South Asia policy... is beyond redemption.", wrote former USAID director John Lewis. John P. Lewis (9 Dec 1971). "Mr. Nixon and South Asia". New York Times.
  38. ↑ 1971 War: How the US tried to corner India. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-14.
  39. ↑ Burne, Lester H. Chronological History of U.S. Foreign Relations: 1932–1988. Routledge, 2003. ISBN 041593916X.
  40. ↑ "British aircraft carrier 'HMS Eagle' tried to intervene in 1971 India - Pakistan war". Archived from the original on 2016-01-10. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  41. ↑ "Cold war games". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 2006-09-15. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  42. ↑ Birth of a nation. Indianexpress.com (2009-12-11). Retrieved on 2011-04-14.
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