2. Contents
o Pakistan: Its Politics, facts, figures and
geography
o India: Its politics, facts, figures and geography
o Causes Of 1971 War
o History of 1971 War
o Pakistani Strategy in 1971 War
o Indian Strategy in 1971 War
o Both Side Losses in 1971 War
o Results of 1971 War
3. Pakistan
• Located: mountainous region adjoining
Central Asia and the Middle East.
• Coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf
of Oman in the south
• Bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the
west, the Republic of India in the east and
the People's Republic of China in the far
northeast.
5. Politics
• In the current semi-presidential system,
the President of Pakistan is the head of
state.
• The Prime Minister is the head of
government.
• There is a multi-party system.
7. LANGUAGE
Multilingual country
English is the official
language
Urdu is the national
language
Punjabi is the most
RELIGION
Majority of the
Pakistanis are Muslim
Almost 85% of
Pakistani Muslims are
Sunni Muslims and
15% are Shi'a
Muslims
2nd largest religion is
Hinduism
3rd
largest is
8. India
• Located: In South-Asia
• Bordered by: the Indian Ocean on the south,
the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the
Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares
land borders with Pakistan to the west;
China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east;
and Burma and Bangladesh to the east.
10. Politics
• India is a federal constitutional republic
governed under a parliamentary system
consisting of 28 states and 7 union
territories.
• There is multi-party system,
12. Causes of 1971 War/Bangladesh
Liberation War
a) According to Najam Sethi, a well respected and honored
journalist from Pakistan, East Pakistan always complained that
they received less development funds and less attention from
the West Pakistan.
b) Pakistani army started its operation in East Pakistan to contain
the movement and anger among the Bengalis.
c) The Awami League secured a clear majority in the 1971
elections of Pakistan but still he was deprived of the Pakistan's
Prime Minister ship following opposition from leaders in West
Pakistan.
d) The Indo-Pakistani conflict was sparked by the Bangladesh
Liberation war.
e) On December 3, 1971, Pakistani air attack on a number of air
bases in northwestern India.
13. History of 1971 War
a) The 1947 partition of the British Indian empire had created a Pakistan
comprised of two “wings”—West Pakistan (present-day Pakistan) and
East Bengal (later renamed East Pakistan; now Bangladesh)—that were
separated by 1,600 km (1,000 mi) of Indian territory.
b) The East and West were also very different in the way of their culture,
and the West area dominated the political ways of the country.
Although the East had most of Pakistan's population, the Western
population, especially the Punjabis, had all of the political power.
c) In 1970, the East won an election by landslide victory, but the West
refused to let the East have power. This outraged the East, and they
believed that independence was necessary.
d) The leader of the Pakistani army was also the self-appointed president
of Pakistan. General Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan planned a genocide
attack on East Pakistan against Bengali elite and the Hindus of the East.
14. History of 1971 War
e) During the war, which was called Operation Searchlight, large numbers
of the Bengali intelligentsia in East Pakistan were killed and many
prominent Bengali leaders were thrown in jail.
f) In response, the Awami League leadership of East Pakistan declared the
province’s independence on March 26. As the crackdown escalated into
a full-blown and brutal civil war over the next two months, some 10
million Bengalis fled East Pakistan and took refuge in the neighboring
Indian state of West Bengal.
g) The Indian leadership of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi quickly decided
that it was cheaper to resort to war against Pakistan than to absorb
millions of refugees into India’s already bloated population.
h) Gandhi and her advisers fashioned a strategy to support the creation of
a separate state for ethnic Bengalis. This strategy involved support for
the indigenous Bengali resistance movement, led by the Mukti Bahini
(Liberation Force).
15. History of 1971 War
i) To this end, India’s military intelligence agency, the Research and
Analysis Wing, helped to organize, train, and arm these insurgents.
j) The Mukti Bahini managed to harass the regular Pakistani army units
stationed in East Pakistan and helped to create conducive conditions for
a full-scale Indian military intervention in early December.
k) On December 3, 1971, the third Indo-Pakistani war formally began with
a Pakistani air attack on a number of air bases in northwestern India.
l) The Indian air force responded the next day by striking at several West
Pakistani air bases. Along with the airborne attack, the Pakistani army
simultaneously launched a ground operation in Kashmīr and in the
Punjab region, thereby opening a western front. In the western sector a
number of pitched battles took place, particularly in Azad Kashmīr near
Pūnch (Poonch) and Chhamb.
16. Pakistani Strategy in War
i. Pakistan’s strategy was almost the exact opposite of
India’s.
ii. Pakistani strategy was predicated on the conviction that
the east would have to be defended in the west.
iii. By threatening vital Indian assets such as Kashmir and the
Punjab, Pakistani planners hoped to draw Indian forces
away from the east and gain enough time for outside
powers to restrain New Delhi.
iv. Further there had been lack of cooperation between the
armoured and infantry division in this battle since no
higher corps headquarter was controlling both the
divisions and the infantry and armoured division
commander had a personality clash.
17. Pakistani Strategy in War
v. Lack of clarity in the Pakistani Military Higher Command
about the ‘Modus Operandi’= (way of doing some thing)
of executing the Strategic Concept.
vi. In brief the Pakistani military leadership was confused and
vague about the method of execution of the strategic
concept; i.e. ‘Defense of East Pakistan lies in West
Pakistan’ as late as 1968-69 at the time when defense
plans were revised under General Yaqub Khan’s tenure
as CGS.
vii. The final strategic plan was vague and confusing on two
counts; i.e. firstly it did not take into account the fact that
the Indians enjoyed overwhelming superiority in the
Eastern Theatre and possessed the potential of
overrunning East Pakistan; secondly no time frame was
18. Indian Strategy in War
Naval Hostilities
i. In the western theatre of the war, the Indian Navy,
under the command of Vice Admiral S.N. Kohli,
successfully attacked Karachi's port in Operation
Trident on the night of 4–5 December, using missile
boats, sinking Pakistani destroyer PNS Khyber and
minesweeper PNS Muhafiz; PNS Shah Jahan was also
badly damaged.
ii. Operation Python on the night of 8–9 December, in which
Indian missile boats attacked the Karachi port, resulting in
further destruction of reserve fuel tanks and the sinking
of three Pakistani merchant ships.
19. Indian Strategy in War
Ground Operations
i. Pakistan attacked at several places along India's western
border with Pakistan, but the Indian army successfully
held their positions. The Indian Army quickly responded to
the Pakistan Army's movements in the west and made
some initial gains, including capturing around 5,500
square miles (14,000 km2
) of Pakistan territory.
ii. The another Indian strategy involved support for the
indigenous Bengali resistance movement, led by the
Mukti Bahini (Liberation Force). To this end, India’s
military intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis
Wing, helped to organize, train, and arm these insurgents.
20. Losses in 1971 War
Indian losses Pakistan Losses
1) 3,843 killed
9,851 wounded
2) 1 Frigate (small plane)
3) 1 Naval Plane
4) Indian Okha harbour
damaged/fueling
facilities destroyed.
5) Damage to western
Indian airfields.
6) Pakistani Claims 130
IAF Aircraft
7) Indian Claims 45 IAF
Aircraft
1) 9,000 killed
4,350 wounded
97,368 captured
2) 2 Destroyers
3) 1 Minesweeper
4) 1 Submarine
5) 3 Patrol vessels
6) 7 Gunboats
7) Pakistani main port
Karachi facilities
damaged/fuel tanks
destroyed
8) Pakistani airfields
damaged
21. Results of 1971 War
• Eastern Command of Pakistan Military collapse.
• 6 December 1971: East Pakistan is recognized as Bangladesh
by India.
• On December 16, the Allied Forces of Bangladesh and India
defeated Pakistan in the east.
• On 16 December 1971, Lt. Gen A. A. K. Niazi, CO of
Pakistan Army forces located in East Pakistan signed the
Instrument of Surrender.
• Over 93,000 Pakistani troops surrendered to the Indian
forces, making it the largest surrender since World War II.
• India and Bangladesh gain victory.
• The East-Pakistan got independence and recognized as a
new state of Bangladesh.
