Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Part of the Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts and Bangladesh Liberation War
First Row: Lt-Gen. A.A.K. Niazi, the Cdr. of Pakistani Eastern Comnd., signing the documented instrument in Dacca in the presence of Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora (GOC-in-C of Indian Eastern Comnd.). Surojit Sen of All India Radio is seen holding a microphone on the right. Second Row (left to right): Vice Adm. N. Krishnan (FOC-in-C Eastern Naval Comnd.), Air Mshl. H.C. Dewan, (AOC-in-C Eastern Air Comnd., Lt Gen. Sagat Singh (Cdr. IV Corps), Maj Gen. JFR Jacob (COS Eastern Comnd.) and Flt Lt Krishnamurthy (peering over Jacob‘s shoulder).
Date 3–16 December 1971 (13 days) Location Eastern Front: India–East Pakistan border Bay of Bengal Pasha enclaves Western Front: India–Pakistan border Line of Control Zero Point Indian Ocean Arabian Sea Result Decisive Indian victory[1][2][3] Eastern front: Surrender of East Pakistan military command Western front: Unilateral ceasefire Territorial changes Eastern Front: Independence of East Pakistan as Bangladesh Western Front: Indian forces captured around 15,010 km2 (5,795 sq mi) of land in the West but returned it in the 1972 Simla Agreement as a gesture of goodwill.[4][5][6]
Belligerents
India Provisional Government of Bangladesh Soviet Union	Pakistan East Pakistan United States United Kingdom Sri Lanka Pahlavi Iran France Turkey China Israel
Commanders and leaders
Indira Gandhi (Prime Minister of India) V. V. Giri (President of India) Swaran Singh (External Minister of India) Jagjivan Ram (Defence Minister of India) Gen Sam Manekshaw (Chief of Army Staff) Lt.Gen J.S. Arora (GOC-in-C, Eastern Command) Lt.Gen G.G. Bewoor (GOC-in-C, Southern Command) Lt.Gen K. P. Candeth (GOC-in-C, Western Command) Lt.Gen Premindra Bhagat (GOC-in-C, Central Command) Lt.Gen Sagat Singh (GOC-in-C, IV Corps) Lt.Gen T. N. Raina (GOC-in-C, II Corps) Lt.Gen Sartaj Singh (GOC-in-C, XV Corps) Lt.Gen Karan Singh (GOC-in-C, I Corps) MajGen Farj R. Jacob (COS, Eastern Command) MajGen Om Malhotra (COS, IV Corps) MajGen Inderjit Singh Gill (Dir, Military Operations) Adm S. M. Nanda (Chief of Naval Staff) VAdm S. N. Kohli (Cdr. Western Naval Command) VAdm N. Krishnan (Cdr. Eastern Naval Command) RAdm S H Sarma (Cdr. Eastern Fleet) ACM Pratap C. Lal (Chief of Air Staff) Rameshwar Kao (Director of RAW) Tajuddin Ahmad (PM Provisional Government) Col. M.A.G. Osmani (Commander, Mukti Bahini)	Yahya Khan (President of Pakistan) Nurul Amin (Prime Minister of Pakistan) Gen. A.H. Khan (Chief of Staff, Army GHQ) Lt.Gen A.A.K. Niazi  (Commander, Eastern Command) Lt.Gen Gul Hassan Khan (Chief of General Staff) Lt.Gen Abdul Ali Malik (Commander, I Corps) Lt.Gen Tikka Khan (Commander, II Corps) Lt.Gen Sher Khan (Commander, IV Corps) MGen Iftikhar Janjua † (GOC, 23rd Infantry Division) MGen Khadim Hussain (GOC, 14th Infantry Division) VAdm Muzaffar Hassan (Cdr-in-Chief, Navy) RAdm Rashid Ahmed (COS, Navy NHQ) RAdm Moh'd Shariff   (Cdr, Eastern Naval Command) RAdm M.A.K. Lodhi (Cdr, Western Naval Command) RAdm Leslie Norman (Commander, Pakistan Marines) AM Abdul Rahim Khan (Cdr-in-Chief, Air Force) AVM P.D. Callaghan (Chief Ins, Pakistan Air Force) Air Cdre Inamul Haq  (Cdr Eastern Air Command) Gp.Capt. Z.A. Khan  (COS, Air AHQ Dhaka) Abdul Motaleb Malik   (Governor of East Pakistan)
Strength
Indian Armed Forces: 1,000,000[7] Mukti Bahini: 180,000[8] Total: 1,180,000	Pakistan Armed Forces: 350,000[7]
Casualties and losses
India 2,500[9]–3,843 killed[10][11] 9,851[10]–12,000[12] injured 1 Naval aircraft[13][14] 1 Frigate Okha harbour damaged/fuel tanks destroyed[15][16][17] Damage to several western Indian airfields[18][19] Pakistani claims 130 IAF Aircraft[20] Indian claims 45 IAF Aircraft[21] Neutral claims 45 IAF Aircraft[9]	Pakistan 9,000 killed[22] 25,000 wounded[12] 93,000 captured 2 Destroyers 1 Minesweeper 1 Submarine[23] 3 Patrol vessels 7 Gunboats Pakistani main port Karachi facilities damaged/fuel tanks destroyed[24] Pakistani airfields damaged and cratered[25] Pakistani claims 42 PAF Aircraft[26] Indian claims 94 PAF Aircraft[21] Neutral claims 75 PAF Aircraft[9]

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Lasting just 13 days, it is considered one of the shortest wars in history.^[27][28]

During the war, Indian and Pakistani forces fought on the eastern and western fronts. The war effectively came to an end after the Eastern Command of the Pakistani Armed Forces signed the Instrument of Surrender (1971) on December 16, 1971.^[29][30] After the surrender, East Pakistan seceded as the independent state of Bangladesh. Around 97,368 West Pakistanis who were in East Pakistan at the time of its independence, including some 79,700 Pakistan Army soldiers and paramilitary personnel^[31] and 12,500 civilians,^[31] were taken as prisoners of war by India.

1. ↑ Lyon, Peter (2008). Conflict between India and Pakistan: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-57607-712-2. India's decisive victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war and emergence of independent Bangladesh dramatically transformed the power balance of South Asia
2. ↑ Kemp, Geoffrey (2010). The East Moves West India, China, and Asia's Growing Presence in the Middle East. Brookings Institution Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-8157-0388-4. However, India's decisive victory over Pakistan in 1971 led the Shah to pursue closer relations with India
3. ↑ Byman, Daniel (2005). Deadly connections: States that Sponsor Terrorism. Cambridge University Press. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-521-83973-0. India's decisive victory in 1971 led to the signing of the Simla Agreement in 1972
4. ↑ Nawaz, Shuja (2008). Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within. Oxford University Press. p. 329. ISBN 978-0-19-547697-2.
5. ↑ Chitkara, M. G (1996). Benazir, a Profile – M. G. Chitkara. APH. ISBN 9788170247524. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
6. ↑ Schofield, Victoria (18 January 2003). Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War – Victoria Schofield. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781860648984. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Dixit, J.N. (2 September 2003). India-Pakistan in War and Peace. Routledge. ISBN 1134407572. while the size of the Indian armed forces remained static at one million men and Pakistan's at around 350,000.
8. ↑ Rashiduzzaman, M. (March 1972). "Leadership, Organization, Strategies and Tactics of the Bangla Desh Movement". Asian Survey. 12 (3): 191. doi:10.2307/2642872. JSTOR 2642872. The Pakistan Government, however, claimed [in June 1971] that the combined fighting strength of the 'secessionists' amounted to about 180,000 armed personnel.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} Leonard, Thomas M. (2006). Encyclopedia of the Developing World. Taylor & Francis. p. 806. ISBN 978-0-415-97664-0.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} "This Vijay Diwas, remember the sacrifices and do good by our disabled soldiers". Times of India. 16 December 2018. Archived from the original on 17 December 2018. About 3,843 Indian soldiers died in this war that resulted in the unilateral surrender of the Pakistan Army and led to the creation of Bangladesh. Among the soldiers who returned home triumphant were also 9,851 injured; many of them disabled.
11. ↑ Vulnerable India: A Geographical Study of Disaster By Anu Kapur
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Air Warfare, edited by Chris Bishop (Amber publishing 1997, republished 2004 pages 384–387 ISBN 1-904687-26-1)
13. ↑ "Chapter 10: Naval Operations In The Western Naval Command". Indian Navy. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012.
14. ↑ "Damage Assessment– 1971 Indo Pak Naval War". Orbat.com. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
15. ↑ "Pakistan Air Force Combat Expirence". Global Security. 9 July 2011. Pakistan retaliated by causing extensive damage through a single B-57 attack on Indian naval base Okha. The bombs scored direct hits on fuel dumps, ammunition dump and the missile boats jetty.
16. ↑ Dr. He Hemant Kumar Pandey & Manish Raj Singh (1 August 2017). INDIA'S MAJOR MILITARY & RESCUE OPERATIONS. Horizon Books ( A Division of Ignited Minds Edutech P Ltd), 2017. p. 117.
17. ↑ Col Y Udaya Chandar (Retd) (2 January 2018). Independent India's All the Seven Wars. Notion Press, 2018.
18. ↑ Air Chief Marshal P C Lal (1986). My Days with the IAF. Lancer. p. 286. ISBN 978-81-7062-008-2.
19. ↑ "The Battle of Longewala—The Truth". India Defence Update. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011.
20. ↑ "Pakistan Air Force – Official website". Paf.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 15 December 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
21. ↑ ^{21.0 21.1} "IAF Combat Kills – 1971 Indo-Pak Air War" (PDF). orbat.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
22. ↑ Leonard, Thomas M. (2006). Encyclopedia of the developing world, Volume 1. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-97662-6.
23. ↑ "The Sinking of the Ghazi". Bharat Rakshak Monitor, 4(2). Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
24. ↑ "How west was won...on the waterfront". The Tribune. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
25. ↑ "India – Pakistan War, 1971; Western Front, Part I". acig.com. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
26. ↑ "Aircraft Losses in Pakistan - 1971 War". Archived from the original on 1 May 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
27. ↑ The World: India: Easy Victory, Uneasy Peace Archived 2013-01-10 at the Wayback Machine, Time (magazine), 1971-12-27
28. ↑ World’s shortest war lasted for only 45 minutes, Pravda, 2007-03-10
29. ↑ [1] Archived 2007-01-02 at the Wayback Machine,
30. ↑ 1971 War: 'I will give you 30 minutes'. Sify.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-14.
31. ↑ ^{31.0 31.1} Haqqani, Hussain (2005). Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military. United Book Press. ISBN 0-87003-223-2., Chapter 3, pp 87.