The Changing Dynamics of War
HALF A CENTURY AGO, the Indian armed forces’ campaign with the Mukti Bahini (guerrilla resistance movement in East Pakistan) led to the dismemberment of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh. It decimated the war-waging potential of the Pakistan Army, whose 93,000 personnel were taken as prisoners of war. In all metrics of warfare, this was an exceptional and decisive military victory that should have ensured a politically favourable post-war settlement for the long term.
The victory should have buried the intemperate words of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the UN Security Council on September 22, 1965:
