THE WAR LED to a sea of refugees – estimated at the time to be about ten million – flooding into the eastern Indian provinces of Assam and West Bengal. Facing a mounting humanitarian and economic crisis – and seeking to keep influence over an increasingly radicalized liberation movement – India started to actively aid and organize the Mukti Bahini, and sent in troops in December 1971.West Pakistan’s ruling elite correctly feared that India’s entry into the war spelled certain defeat. So it launched a pre-emptive strike on Indian air force bases on 3 December – modelled on the Israeli air force’s Operation Focus during the 1967 six-day war – which was intended to neutralise Indian planes on the ground. The plan failed to achieve the desired effect since India had anticipated such an action. It was seen by India, however, as an open act of unprovoked aggression and marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistan war.Pakistan’s regime made urgent appeals to the United Nations to intervene and force India to agree to a ceasefire. The UN Security Council assembled on 4 December 1971 to discuss the situation. After lengthy discussions, on 7 December, the United States put forward a resolution for an "immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of troops". Stalinist Russia vetoed the resolution twice. In light of the Pakistani atrocities, Britain and France abstained.Three Indian corps were involved in the invasion of East Pakistan. They were supported by nearly three brigades of Mukti Bahini, with many more fighting irregularly. This was far superior to Pakistan’s 90,000 troops. India’s external intelligence agency, RAW, mobilized the largest covert operation in the history of South Asia, providing crucial logistical support to the Mukti Bahini during the initial stages of the war.The Indian army quickly overran the country, selectively engaging or bypassing heavily defended strongholds. Pakistani forces were unable to effectively counter the onslaught, as they had been deployed in small units around the border to counter guerrilla attacks by the Mukti Bahini. Unable to defend Dhaka, the Pakistanis surrendered on 16 December 1971, the largest surrender since the second world war. Bangladesh sought admission to the UN with most voting in its favor, but China vetoed this as Pakistan was its key ally, as was the United States, which was one of the last nations to accord Bangladesh recognition.
Indian intervention
THE WAR LED to a sea of refugees – estimated at the time to be about ten million – flooding into the eastern Indian provinces of Assam and West Bengal. Facing a mounting humanitarian and economic crisis – and seeking to keep influence over an increasingly radicalized liberation movement – India started to actively aid and organize the Mukti Bahini, and sent in troops in December 1971.West Pakistan’s ruling elite correctly feared that India’s entry into the war spelled certain defeat. So it launched a pre-emptive strike on Indian air force bases on 3 December – modelled on the Israeli air force’s Operation Focus during the 1967 six-day war – which was intended to neutralise Indian planes on the ground. The plan failed to achieve the desired effect since India had anticipated such an action. It was seen by India, however, as an open act of unprovoked aggression and marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistan war.Pakistan’s regime made urgent appeals to the United Nations to intervene and force India to agree to a ceasefire. The UN Security Council assembled on 4 December 1971 to discuss the situation. After lengthy discussions, on 7 December, the United States put forward a resolution for an "immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of troops". Stalinist Russia vetoed the resolution twice. In light of the Pakistani atrocities, Britain and France abstained.Three Indian corps were involved in the invasion of East Pakistan. They were supported by nearly three brigades of Mukti Bahini, with many more fighting irregularly. This was far superior to Pakistan’s 90,000 troops. India’s external intelligence agency, RAW, mobilized the largest covert operation in the history of South Asia, providing crucial logistical support to the Mukti Bahini during the initial stages of the war.The Indian army quickly overran the country, selectively engaging or bypassing heavily defended strongholds. Pakistani forces were unable to effectively counter the onslaught, as they had been deployed in small units around the border to counter guerrilla attacks by the Mukti Bahini. Unable to defend Dhaka, the Pakistanis surrendered on 16 December 1971, the largest surrender since the second world war. Bangladesh sought admission to the UN with most voting in its favor, but China vetoed this as Pakistan was its key ally, as was the United States, which was one of the last nations to accord Bangladesh recognition.
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