Instrument of Surrender of Pakistan | |
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![]() Lt. Gen. A. A. K. Niazi of the Pakistan Army signing the Instrument of Surrender under the direction of Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora of the Indian Army and Bangladesh Forces[1] | |
Ratified | 16 December 1971 |
Location | Dacca, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) |
Signatories | ![]() ![]() |
Subject | Surrender of the Pakistan Armed Forces Eastern Command |
Purpose | Ending the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 |
The Pakistani Instrument of Surrender (Bengali: পাকিস্তানের আত্মসমর্পণের দলিল, romanized: Pākistānēr Atmasamarpaṇēr Dalil) was a legal document signed between India (alongside the Provisional Government of Bangladesh) and Pakistan to end the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[2][3][4] Per the trilateral agreement, the Pakistani government surrendered the Armed Forces Eastern Command,[1][5][6] thereby enabling the establishment of the People's Republic of Bangladesh over the territory of East Pakistan. The document was signed by Jagjit Singh Aurora and Pakistan's A. A. K. Niazi, who corroborated the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani soldiers — the world's largest surrender in terms of number of personnel since World War II.[7][8] Despite the agreement, Pakistan did not formally recognize Bangladeshi sovereignty until February 1974.[9][10]
The ratification of the agreement by all sides also marked the end of the Bangladesh genocide, perpetrated by Pakistan during the conflict. Bangladesh and the Indian Armed Forces celebrate Pakistan's 1971 defeat and surrender on an annual basis, observing 16 December as Victory Day.[11][12][13]
...continuing deadlock over the release of some 93,000 Pakistani prisoners of war, including 15,000 civilian men, women and children, captured in East Pakistan (the few hundred prisoners captured by each side on the Western front were exchanged on December 1, 1972).
More than 90,000...., the largest ever since World War 2.
It was the largest military surrender after the Second World War and the Indian armed forces, along with Mukti Bahini, liberated Bangladesh in a span of just 13 days and also the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani soldiers, the largest surrender of armed forces post Second World War.