The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Indian, Bangladeshi and international sources consider the beginning of the war to be Operation Chengiz Khan, Pakistan's December 3, 1971 pre-emptive strike on 11 Indian airbases.[16][17] Lasting just 13 days it is considered one of the shortest wars in history.[18][19]
During the course of the war, Indian and Pakistani forces clashed 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,[20] on December 16, 1971 following which 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[21] and 12,500 civilians,[21] were taken as prisoners of war by India.
| Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Indo-Pakistani Wars and Bangladesh Liberation War | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 India
|  Pakistan Unofficially supported by: | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Gen Sam Manekshaw Lt.Gen. J.S. Arora Lt.Gen. G.G. Bewoor Lt.Gen. K. P. Candeth Lt.Gen. Sagat Singh Adm S. M. Nanda ACM Pratap Lal
|  Gen. Abdul Hamid Khan LGen Gul Hassan Khan LGen Tikka Khan LGen A. A. K. Niazi   VAdm Muzaffar Hassan AM Abdul Rahim Khan | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 500,000 troops | 365,000 troops | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 3,843 killed [2] 9,851 wounded[2] 1 Frigate
Pakistani Claims
Indian Claims | 9,000 killed[verification needed][11] 4,350 wounded 97,368 captured[verification needed][12] 2 Destroyers[13] 1 Minesweeper[13] 1 Submarine[14][15] 3 Patrol vessels 7 Gunboats Pakistani Claims Indian Claims | ||||||||
Western and Soviet involvement
The Soviet Union sympathized with the Bangladeshis, and supported the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini during the war, recognizing that the independence of Bangladesh would weaken the position of its rivals—the United States and China. The USSR gave assurances to India that if a confrontation with the United States or China developed, it would take counter-measures. This assurance was enshrined in the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty signed in August 1971.[60]
The United States supported Pakistan both politically and materially. President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger feared Soviet expansion into South and Southeast Asia.[61]Pakistan was a close ally of the People's Republic of China, with whom Nixon had been negotiating a rapprochement and where he intended to visit in February 1972. Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of West Pakistan would mean total Soviet domination of the region, and that it would seriously undermine the global position of the United States and the regional position of America's new tacit ally, China. In order to demonstrate to China the bona fides of the United States as an ally, Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan, routing them through Jordan and Iran,[62] while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan. The Nixon administration also ignored reports it received of the "genocidal" activities of the Pakistani Army in East Pakistan, most notably the Blood telegram. This prompted widespread criticism and condemnation both by Congress and in the international press
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