VS.

INDO-PAKISTANI WAR OF 1971

Contentso Pakistan: Its Politics, facts, figures and

geographyo India: Its politics, facts, figures and

geographyo Causes Of 1971 Waro History of 1971 Waro Pakistani Strategy in 1971 Waro Indian Strategy in 1971 Waro Both Side Losses in 1971 Waro Results of 1971 War

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.

MAP OF PAKISTAN

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.

President Prime Minister

Asif Ali Zardari Mir Hazar Khan Khoso

(25 march 2013)

LANGUAGE

Multilingual country

English is the official language

Urdu is the national language

Punjabi is the most commonly spoken language of Pakistan. (About 61 million people)

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 Christianity

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.

MAP OF INDIA

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,

President Prime Minister

Shri Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Manmohan Singh

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.

History of 1971 Wara) 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.

History of 1971 Ware) 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).

History of 1971 Wari) 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.

Pakistani Strategy in Wari. 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.

Pakistani Strategy in Warv. 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 fixed for launching the counter offensive of 1 Corps.

Indian Strategy in War

Naval Hostilitiesi. 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.

Indian Strategy in WarGround 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.

Losses in 1971 WarIndian losses Pakistan Losses

1) 3,843 killed9,851 wounded

2) 1 Frigate (small plane)3) 1 Naval Plane4) 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 killed4,350 wounded97,368 captured

2) 2 Destroyers3) 1 Minesweeper4) 1 Submarine5) 3 Patrol vessels6) 7 Gunboats 7) Pakistani main port

Karachi facilities damaged/fuel tanks destroyed

8) Pakistani airfields damaged

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.

Presented By: Advocate Raja Aleem

M.A. International RelationLL.B HonsB.A-Political Science