NEWS

Victory of India in 1971 war is being commemorated

ABOUT THE WAR

BACKGROUND

• Cause of concern – Issues of East Pakistan /Bangladesh
• Protest of East Pakistan
• Led by Sheikh Mujibur Rehman
• Announced six-point program for regional autonomy for East Pakistan
• Started East Pakistani Awami League party which secured a landslide win in Pakistan’s 1970 election
• West Pakistani establishment called on the military to suppress dissenters in East Pakistan.
• Mujibur was arrested
• Awamis took refugee in India
• Influx of refugees proved burden to India
• India decides to intervene

WHY DID INDIA INTERVENE

Strategic Factors

• Hostile West Pakistan and East Pakistan on both sides of its borders.
• Intensified by the uncertainty in Sino-Indian relations that resulted in the 1962 war
• Appropriate to preserve long-term strategic interests.

Problem of Migrants

• Influx of migrants from East Pakistan on the domestic front has generated various problems in the border states.
• Resources were scarce
• Constant struggle over the use of these resources between locals and refugees
• Ethnic and social issues.

Economic Factors

• Spending immense resources on the economic front to accommodate those refugees
• India was not in a position to seek long-term spending capital
• Poor connectivity having a hostile East Pakistan hindered the growth of the north-eastern part of the country

HOW DID THE WAR END

• Pakistan conducted pre-emptive attacks on Indian airfields, including those in Agra, on 3 December 1971
• Indira Gandhi was PM of India
• India replied with retaliatory airstrikes against Pakistan the same night
• Coordinated air, land, and sea assaults were conducted on Pakistan from all fronts.
• Pakistan suffered a crushing defeat and it also led to over half of its population being deprived of the region
• Bangladesh, the new nation, was created
• Mujibur, who became the first President of Bangladesh, was liberated by Pakistan.
• In 1972, the Shimla Agreement between India and Pakistan was signed, acknowledging the independence of Bangladesh instead of the return of the Pakistani POWs.
• In July 2011, Indira Gandhi was awarded the Bangladesh Freedom Award posthumously by the Bangladesh government.

SHIMLA AGREEMENT

• Between Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the President of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
• On 2nd July 1972
• Withdraw soldiers
• Considered detailed blueprint For good neighbourly ties between India and Pakistan.
• Abjure conflict and confrontation that had in the past marred relationships and to work towards the establishment of permanent peace, friendship, and cooperation.
• Comprises a set of guiding principles agreed by India and Pakistan on a reciprocal basis, to be adhered to by both parties while maintaining relations with each other.