Indian Strategy in the Liberation War of Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

In 1971, India played a leading role in the liberation war of Bangladesh. At this time, a rare opportunity came before India to break the hostile state of Pakistan. For this, it was necessary to give full support to the liberation war of Bangladesh. But in the world reality of that time, it was not easy to intervene in the internal war of an independent state. It was not easy to get Indias full cooperation from Bangladeshs side as well. Bangladeshs refugee influx eases this complex and dire situation. After World War II, the largest refugee crisis since then was caused by the influx of people fleeing Bangladesh during the liberation war. At that time, India was home to almost 10 million East Pakistani refugees. Even though the refugee crisis has caused India great socioeconomic and political difficulties, the nation has used this dilemma to its advantage to win a significant geopolitical victory. In actuality, Indias refugee issue provided the impetus for direct involvement in the Bangladeshi conflict. In addition, the refugee crisis played a major role in enabling the guerrillas in Bangladesh to receive arms, shape public opinion throughout the world, and eventually engage in and prevail in an all-out war against Pakistan. This article uses text analysis from primary and secondary written sources to examine this particular facet of Indian geopolitics.

FULL TEXT