INDO-PAKISTAN WAR of Dec 1971 | “Foreign Action & Involvement”| Valor of INDIAN ARMY (To-the-point)
Recently, an official announcement has been made about release of “BHUJ: THE PRIDE OF INDIA” movie by DISNEY+HOTSTAR, which is set during the INDO-PAKISTAN WAR of 1971.
As a BHARATIYA (People who cherish knowledge, “Bharatha”), we all know the “very” details of this war but most of us aren’t familiar with the foreign involvement in this war. So this article is all about geopolitical tensions that arise during this war and how it affected the war.
"We will never forget the ultimate sacrifice of our warriors for our mother INDIA."Let us divide the discussion into points to understand it better. I will provide EPILOGUE (Don’t miss the Epilogue) in the last of this discussion to compare this scenario with the present one.
SOVIET UNION (Only Supporter of INDIA)
- The Soviet Union sympathized with the East Pakistanis (Today’s Bangladeshis), and supported the INDIAN ARMY and “Mukti Bahini’s” incursion against Pakistan during the war, in a broader view of recognising that the succession of East Pakistan as Independent Bangladesh would weaken the position of its rivals — the United States and China.
Soviet Union (Russian dominated) provided ammunition and weaponry support for INDIA during war time.
East Pakistan = Bangladesh
Mukti Bahini = Bangladeshi forces (Liberation Army)
- The Soviet Union also gave assurances to INDIA that if a confrontation with the United States or China developed, it would take counter-measures. This came out to be of great help for INDIA in terms of strategic deterrence against China.
This assurance was enshrined in the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed in August 1971.
However, the Indo-Soviet treaty did not mean a total commitment to every Indian position, even though the Soviet Union had accepted the Indian position during the conflict, according to author Robert Jackson.
- Undoubtedly, friendship shown by Russia (Soviet Union) was of great help for INDIA in this war.
US (strongly supported Pakistan)
- The United States stood with Pakistan by supporting it morally, politically, economically and materially when U.S. President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger refused to use rhetoric in a hopeless attempt to intervene in a large civil war.
- The U.S. establishment perceived to the impression that they needed Pakistan to help stop Soviet influence in South Asia in an informal alliance with India.
US against Soviet && Soviet with INDIA = US against INDIA
- During the Cold War, Pakistan was a close formal ally of the United States and also had close relations with the People’s Republic of China.
- President Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of 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 tactical ally, China.
- Nixon encouraged Jordan and Iran to send military supplies to Pakistan, while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan, but all supplies were very limited.
Arab Countries was fed wrongly by US that INDIA is playing foul with Muslims in Pakistan but as we all know today the reality is exactly opposite. US used every possible tactic to defeat INDIA but valiant INDIAN ARMY soldiers and effective leadership by Field Marshal SAM MANEKSHAW, led us to the victory.
- The Nixon administration also ignored reports it received of the “genocidal” activities of the Pakistani military in East Pakistan, most notably the Blood telegram, and this prompted widespread criticism and condemnation — both by the United States Congress and in the international press.
- As the war progressed, it became apparent to the United States that India was going to invade and disintegrate Pakistan in a matter of weeks.
- After the war, the United States accepted the new balance of power and recognized India as a dominant player in South Asia; the US immediately engaged in strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries in the successive years.
US Foreign Policy is simple enough, they stood with country that benefits them the most. They stood with Pakistan in the war even after knowing the whole situation.
CHINA (Harsh Critic of INDIA)
- During the course of the war, China harshly criticised India for its involvement in the East Pakistan crises.
“Before the war started, Chinese leaders and officials had long been philosophically advising the Pakistan government to make peaceful political settlements with the East Pakistani leaders, as China feared that India was secretly supporting, infiltrating, and arming the Bengali rebels against the East Pakistani government.” Source: Wikipedia
- When the war started, China reproached India for its direct involvement and infiltration in East Pakistan.
- US President Nixon encouraged China to mobilise its armed forces along its border with India to discourage the Indian assault, but the Chinese did not respond to this encouragement since the Indian Army’s Northern Command was well prepared to guard the Line of Actual Control, and was already engaging and making advances against the Pakistan Army’s X Corps in the Line of Control.
- China did not welcome the break-up of Pakistan’s unity by the East Pakistani politicians, and effectively vetoed the membership of Bangladesh when it applied to the United Nations in 1972.
China being china, same foreign policy : A Communist Fanatic
China was also among the last countries to recognise the independence of Bangladesh, refusing to do so until 31 August 1975.
To this date, its relations with Bangladesh are determined by the Pakistan factor.
IRAN & Arab Countries (Pakistan close Ally)
- During the course of the conflict, Iran also stood with Pakistan politically and diplomatically.
After the war, however, Iran began cementing ties with India based on mutual security co-operation.
FUN FACT : When Pakistan called for unilateral ceasefire and the surrender was announced, the Shah of Iran hastily responded by preparing the Iranian military to come up with contingency plans to forcefully invade Pakistan and annex its Balochistan province into its side of Balochistan, by any means necessary, before anybody else did it.
- As many Arab countries were allied with both the United States and Pakistan, it was easy for Kissinger to encourage them to participate.
- King of Jordan, King of Saudi Arabia & Libyan provided full advanced weaponry support to Pakistan, which was mismanaged by Pakistan leadership. However, other countries such as Syria and Tunisia were against interfering describing it as an internal matter of Pakistan.
- Sri-Lanka also seen INDIA as their threat during
EPILOGUE (Most Important part of this Article)
First look at current situation of geopolitics (wrt INDIA) :
US with INDIA
US against RUSSIA, CHINA & PAKISTAN
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES majority with INDIA (FRANCE strongest ally INDIA in Europe)
ISRAEL strong ally of INDIA
PAKISTAN & CHINA against INDIA
RUSSIA with CHINA (but not against INDIA till now)
CHINA still with PAKISTAN
ARAB MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES under DEBT TRAP of CHINA
NEPAL & SRI LANKA under Debt trap of ChinaChina’s foreign policy hasn’t changed much since then but they found a new way of colonization, not by military force but with money. They give huge loan to poor & middle income countries under unreasonable terms and conditions, then DEBT TRAP them. They are developing infrastructure at a rapid rate, not only in their own country but also in the other countries via their “Belt & Road Initiative”. China is advancing very fast in technological development in military applications. China’s vast economy & communist thinking makes it the most lethal enemy not only to INDIA but also to majority of countries of the world. China’s growing colonization (via DEBT TRAP) in neighboring countries of INDIA is posing high threat level of threat to INDIAN security i.e China’s “String of Pearls”. Especially, China’s unconditional support to Pakistan is also a great headache for INDIA.
INDIA is also countering the China’s wild policies against INDIA in best possible ways either by forming ally with US and other QUAD countries against China (or) diplomatically downgrading the China’s image in front of whole world (or) using “NECKLACE OF DIAMOND” Strategy against “String of Pearls” strategy (or) using THEATRE COMMANDS to counter growing tensions at LAC. INDIAN ARMY is considered master of Mountain Warfare as opposing to Chinese PLA which is not suitable to fight at such heights. INDIA’s diplomatic ties with many countries have shown an exponential growth and INDIANs are mentally ready to see a Large Civil war against China in the near future. China’s invasion in Taiwan will be good opportunity for us to get back our POK completely from Pakistan.
Geopolitical situations right now is most interesting than ever. But note, in Geopolitics no country supports another without any mutual interest, so its better to be self-sufficient as a country to counter any attacks in future by China or Pakistan at an individual level.
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