The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was fought between India and Pakistan over the liberation of Bangladesh. East Pakistan sought independence after winning the 1970 election but being denied power. Mass arrests and violence against East Pakistan led to 10 million refugees fleeing to India. In response, India provided support and training to the Mukti Bahini forces of Bangladesh. By late 1971, full-scale war had broken out across East and West Pakistan as India supported Bangladeshi independence forces. The war ended in two weeks with the surrender of Pakistani forces in the east and the creation of an independent Bangladesh.

1. Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a major military conflict between India and Pakistan. The
war is closely associated with the Bangladesh Liberation War (sometimes also referred to as
Pakistani Civil War). There is an argument about exact dates of the war. However, the armed
conflict on India's western front during the period between December 3, 1971 and December 16,
1971 is called the Indo-Pakistani War by both the Bangladeshi and Indian armies. The war ended
in a crushing defeat for Pakistani military in just a fortnight.
Background
The Indo-Pakistani conflict was sparked by the Bangladesh Liberation War, a conflict between the
traditionally dominant West Pakistanis and the majority East Pakistanis. The war ignited after the
1970 Pakistani election, in which the East Pakistani Awami League won 167 of 169 seats in East
Pakistan, thus securing a simple majority in the 313-seat lower house of the Pakistani parliament.
Awami League Leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman presented Six Points and claimed the right to form
the government. After the leader of the Pakistan People's Party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, refused to
give premiership of Pakistan to Mujibur, President Yahya Khan called in the military, which was
made up largely of West Pakistanis.
Mass arrests of dissidents began, and attempts were made to disarm East Pakistani soldiers and
police. After several days of strikes and non-cooperation movements, Pakistani military cracked
down on Dhaka on the night of March 25, 1971. The Awami League was banished, and many
members fled into exile in India. Mujib was arrested and taken to West Pakistan.
On March 27, 1971, Ziaur Rahman, a rebellious major in the Pakistani army, declared
the independence of Bangladesh on behalf of Mujibur. In April, exiled Awami League leaders
formed a government-in-exile in Boiddonathtola of Meherpur. The East Pakistan Rifles, an elite
paramilitary force, defected to the rebellion. A guerrilla troop of civilians, the Mukti Bahini, was
formed to help the Bangladesh Army.

2. India's involvement in Bangladesh Liberation War
On March 27, 1971, the Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, expressed full support of her
government to the Bangladeshi struggle for freedom. The Bangladesh-India border was opened to
allow the tortured and panic-stricken Bangladeshis safe shelter in India. The governments of West
Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura established refugee camps along the border. Exiled
Bangladeshi army officers and voluntary workers from India immediately started using these
camps for the recruitment and training of Mukti Bahini guerrillas.
As the massacres in East Pakistan escalated, an estimated 10 million refugees fled to India, causing
financial hardship and instability in the country. The United States, a long and close ally of
Pakistan, continued to ship arms and supplies to West Pakistan.
Indira Gandhi launched a diplomatic offensive in the early fall of 1971 touring Europe, and was
successful in getting both the United Kingdom and France to break with the United States, and
block any pro-Pakistan directives in the United Nations security council. Gandhi's greatest coup
was on August 9, when she signed a twenty-year treaty of friendship and co-operation with
the Soviet Union, greatly shocking the United States, and providing India with insurance that the
People's Republic of China would not be involved in the conflict. China, an ally of Pakistan, had
been providing moral support, but little military aid, and did not advance troops to its border with
India.
Operation of the Mukti Bahini caused severe casualties to the Pakistani Army, which was in control
of all district headquarters. As the flow of refugees swelled to a tide, the economic costs for India
began to escalate. India began providing support, including weapons and training, for the Mukti
Bahini, and began shelling military targets in East Pakistan.
India's official engagement with Pakistan
By November, war seemed inevitable; a massive buildup of Indian forces on the border with East
Pakistan had begun. The Indian military waited for winter, when the drier ground would make for
easier operations and Himalayan passes would be closed by snow, preventing any Chinese

3. intervention. On November 23, Yahya Khan declared a state of emergency in all of Pakistan and
told his people to prepare for war.
On the evening of Sunday, December 3, the Pakistani air force launched sorties on eight airfields
in north-western India. This attack was inspired by the Arab -Israeli Six Day War and the success
of the Israeli preemptive strike. However, the Indians had anticipated such a move and the raid
was not successful. The Indian Air Force launched a counter-attack and quickly achieved air
superiority. On the Eastern front, the Indian Army joined forces with the Mukti Bahini to form the
Mitro Bahini (Allied Forces); the next day, Indian forces responded with a massive coordinated
air, sea, and land assault on East Pakistan.
Yahya Khan counter-attacked India in the West, in an attempt to capture land which might have
been used to bargain for territory they expected to lose in the east. The land battle in the West was
crucial for any hope of preserving a united Pakistan. The Indian Army quickly responded to the
Pakistan Army's movements in the west and made some initial gains, including capturing around
5,500 sq miles of Pakistan territory (land gained by India in Pakistani Kashmir and the Pakistani
Punjab sector were later ceded in the Shimla Agreement of 1972, as a gesture of goodwill). The
Indian Army described its activities in East Pakistan as:
Effects
The war led to the immediate surrender of Pakistani forces to the Indian Army. Bangladesh became
an independent nation, and the third most populous Muslim country. Loss of East Pakistan
demoralized the Pakistani military and Yahya Khan resigned, to be replaced by Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto. Mujibur Rahman was released from West Pakistani prison and returned to Dhaka on
January 10, 1972.
The exact cost of the violence on the people of East Pakistan is not known. R.J. Rummel cites
estimates ranging from one to three million people killed. Other estimates place the death toll
lower, at 300,000.
On the brink of defeat around December 14, the Pakistani Army and its local collaborators
systematically killed a large number of Bengali doctors, teachers, and intellectuals, part of
a pogrom against the Hindu minorities who constituted the majority of urban educated
intellectuals. Young men, who were seen as possible rebels, were also targeted, especially students.

4. The cost of the war for Pakistan in monetary and human resources was high. In the book Can
Pakistan Survive? Pakistan based author Tariq Ali writes, "Pakistan lost half its navy, a quarter of
its air force and a third of its army." India took 93,000 prisoners of war that included Pakistani
soldiers as well as some of their East Pakistani collaborators. It was one of the largest surrenders
since World War II. India originally wished to try them for war crimes for the brutality in East
Pakistan, but eventually acceded to releasing them as a gesture of reconciliation. The Simla
Agreement, created the following year, also saw most of Pakistani territory (more than 13,000
km²) being given back to Pakistan to create "lasting peace" between the two nations.