Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Volume 2: Showdown in the North-West

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Volume 2: Showdown in the North-West


A highly authoritative and richly illustrated account of the crucial conflict of the Indian Sub-continent, and the war during which Bangladesh was born as an independent state. In 1947, India and Pakistan were partitioned by their former colonial ruler, Great Britain. A job that should have taken ten-years was done in a few months. Britain, drained by two world wars in 40-years no longer had the will or the money to guide the subcontinent to a peaceful partition by consensus. More importantly, the subcontinent was impatient for Britain's departure. The British left in haste, leaving unresolved the issue of Kashmir. This triggered a number of wars between the new states: 1947-48, 1965, 1971 and a continuing insurgency/counterinsurgency that began in 1987. Two other potential wars were narrowly averted in 1987-88 and 2001-02, and a further limited war was fought in 1999. Since the basic issue remains unresolved, the next war may be only a matter of time. Late in the afternoon of 3 December 1971, in an attempt to distract New Delhi from developments in its eastern wing, Pakistan initiated hostilities with India by flying a series of air strikes against the forward air bases of the Indian Air force. Thus began the 'official' part of the India-Pakistan War of 1971, a bitter conventional war of the highest intensity in the history of the two countries since their independence. During the following weeks, a series of pitched battles took place as the two parties began exchanging blows almost everywhere along their 2,000-kilometre long mutual borders. By 16 December, and rather suddenly, the conflict was over: once East Pakistan had been overrun by India, Islamabad had no incentive to continue fighting a war it could not possibly win.