Indo-Pak War of 1971 and the Birth of Bangladesh

At a Glance

• Pakistan attacks 3 December 1971
• Surrender at Dacca 16 December 1971; Aurora and Niazi
• Simla Agreement 2 July 1972; Indira Gandhi and Z.A. Bhutto
• Pokhran I 18 May 1974; Smiling Buddha
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: India After Nehru

Where Does It Fit?

This is the third topic of the category on India after Nehru. The previous topic covered Indira Gandhi’s first phase to 1977. This topic covers the war of 1971 and the birth of Bangladesh, with India’s foreign relations in that period. The next topic covers the Janata Party years. Previous topic: Indira Gandhi, 1966-77: Political Developments and Socio-Economic Policies.

What Led to the Crisis in East Pakistan?

In 1970 General Yahya Khan, who had succeeded Ayub Khan, promised to restore democracy and called the first adult-franchise election in Pakistan, with seats in the National Assembly in proportion to population, so that East Pakistan, the more populous wing, had more seats. In the west the Pakistan People’s Party under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto dominated, and in the east the Awami League under Mujibur Rahman, who said the east was being treated as a colony by military rulers, that Bengali was sidelined and that the east was poorly represented in the higher administration. He demanded autonomy and a true federal constitution. In the December 1970 election the Awami League swept East Pakistan and won a majority overall.

Yahya Khan disliked the prospect of an Assembly led by East Pakistanis demanding autonomy, and with Bhutto’s endorsement postponed the Assembly. The Awami League’s call for a general strike was well supported. In March 1971 the military regime sent tanks and troops into East Pakistan to crush the protest, arrested Mujibur Rahman and killed civilians, especially students, in large numbers. The relation with the earlier Pakistan problems is in India and Pakistan, 1947-64 and in The Lal Bahadur Shastri Years and the Indo-Pak War of 1965.

How Did India Respond Before the War?

The civil war led to an exodus of refugees, mostly Hindus, into India, numbering millions by August 1971. India took them in, set up camps in West Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya and even Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, and fed them, and the central government bore the cost. India first tried diplomacy. Indira Gandhi told the United States that American arms given to Pakistan and once used against India in 1965 were now used against Pakistan’s own people, and asked whether refugees from Hitler’s Germany would have been sent back. Henry Kissinger brought a letter asking India to send the refugees back under UN supervision. Nixon favoured Pakistan, which had secretly helped open contact between the United States and China, while Kissinger’s views differed.

The Soviet Union agreed that the two wings of Pakistan had drifted apart and offered military equipment and a friendship treaty that would deter Pakistan and China from joint adventure. After Swaran Singh met Andrei Gromyko and Alexei Kosygin in Moscow in June 1971, the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation was signed in August 1971; its key part provided for mutual consultation on measures to remove the threat in case of an attack or threat of attack on either country. By the summer of 1971 India decided to intervene actively, and Indian forces trained Bengali guerrillas, regular soldiers of the former united Pakistan and fresh volunteers, who were known as the Mukti Bahini and slipped across the border to attack camps and communications. Indira Gandhi toured the world; in November 1971 she met Richard Nixon, who said the United States would not agree to overthrow Yahya Khan and warned India against military action. Shelling across the border had begun to reach the stage of conflict.

How Did the War Unfold?

India had modernised its forces and begun indigenous weapons production, Pakistani morale was low because of unrest and defections of Bengali personnel, and the Chinese help Pakistan hoped for did not come, with snow on the Himalayan passes in December. The Soviet Union vetoed a US-sponsored resolution in the Security Council calling for a ceasefire and withdrawal. Mujibur Rahman was released and led the new nation. Many in India called Indira Gandhi Durga, and the country felt a new confidence.

What Did the Simla Agreement Provide?

After the war Yahya Khan resigned and Bhutto took over. A summit was held at Simla in June 1972. India wanted a comprehensive treaty settling all issues including Kashmir and a no-war pact, but Pakistan preferred a step-by-step approach. In the end India agreed to a renunciation of force and an agreement and not a treaty, which was signed on 2 July 1972. On the line in Kashmir Pakistan added the caveat that it was without prejudice to the recognised position of either side. India appears to have accepted diluted terms because it feared that pushing Bhutto too hard could depose him and make matters worse.

Bhutto’s speech in Pakistan’s National Assembly soon after the agreement showed that Kashmir was still alive for Pakistan. In 1976 the two countries agreed to reopen diplomatic establishments in spite of the hostile reception in Pakistan to India’s nuclear test.

How Did India Conduct Its Foreign Relations in the 1970s?

On 18 May 1974 India conducted its first nuclear test in the Thar Desert at the army base near Pokhran, officially Pokhran I and code named Smiling Buddha, an underground detonation formally called a peaceful nuclear explosion. It was the first confirmed test by a nation that was not one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. The device was of the implosion type and was developed under Raja Ramanna, Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, with Homi Sethna, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, overseeing the project; other scientists included P.K. Iyengar and R. Chidambaram. The nuclear programme had begun in the Nehru years, as in Planning for Economic Development and Progress in Science and Technology. Indira Gandhi is believed to have authorised development of the weapon system in view of China’s nuclear progress. There was public pride, and also a perception that the test was meant to divert attention from unrest at home. The Nuclear Suppliers Group was formed to check proliferation, Canada suspended assistance for two heavy water reactors because plutonium had come from the CIRUS reactor it supplied and the heavy water from the United States, and Pakistan cancelled talks and said it would not be blackmailed. Pakistani opinion held that the test pushed Pakistan into the nuclear field. As an analytical point, the test and the war together made India the dominant power of the subcontinent, and the later nuclear tests are in NDA Years: Pokhran II, Lahore Summit and Kargil War.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Dates and persons War and surrender dates are standard Prelims facts
• Simla Agreement Provisions and the Line of Control are frequent questions
• Great-power alignment The Indo-Soviet treaty and the American stance

What Came Next?

The next topic covers the Janata Party years from 1977 to 1980. Next topic: The Janata Party Years, 1977-80.

Key People and Terms

• Awami League Mujibur Rahman’s party
• Mukti Bahini Bengali guerrilla force trained by India
• Instrument of Surrender Signed at Dacca on 16 December 1971
• Operation Trident The naval attack on Karachi
• Simla Agreement Signed 2 July 1972
• Smiling Buddha Code name of Pokhran I

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask about the causes and the consequences of the war. These points add depth.

• Causes Denial of the electoral verdict
• Diplomacy Soviet treaty and US opposition
• Settlement Simla and the Line of Control