United Nations
Though the United Nations condemned the human rights
violations during and following Operation Searchlight, it failed to defuse the
situation politically before the start of the war.
Following Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's declaration of
independence in March 1971, India undertook
a world-wide campaign to drum up political, democratic and humanitarian support
for the people of Bangladesh for
their liberation struggle. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi toured a large number
of countries in a bid to create awareness of the Pakistani atrocities against
Bengalis. This effort was to prove vital later during the war, in framing the
world's context of the war and to justify military action by India . Also,
following Pakistan 's
defeat, it ensured prompt recognition of the newly independent state of Bangladesh .
Following India 's
entry into the war, Pakistan ,
fearing certain defeat, made urgent appeals to the United Nations to intervene
and force India to
agree to a cease fire. The UN Security Council assembled on 4
December 1971 to discuss the hostilities in South Asia .
After lengthy discussions on 7 December, the United States made a
resolution for "immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of troops". While
supported by the majority, the USSR vetoed the resolution
twice. In light of the Pakistani atrocities against Bengalis, the United Kingdom and France abstained
on the resolution.
On 12 December, with Pakistan facing
imminent defeat, the United
States requested that the Security
Council be reconvened. Pakistan 's
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was rushed to New York City to
make the case for a resolution on the cease fire. The council continued
deliberations for four days. By the time proposals were finalized, Pakistan 's
forces in the East had surrendered and the war had ended, making the measures
merely academic. Bhutto, frustrated by the failure of the resolution and the
inaction of the United Nations, ripped up his speech and left the council.
Most UN member nations were quick to recognise Bangladesh within
months of its independence.
As the Bangladesh Liberation War approached the defeat of
the Pakistan Army , Bhutan became the second country in the world (after India ) to
recognize the newly independent state on 6 December 1971. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first President of Bangladesh visited Bhutan to
attend the coronation of Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth King of
Bhutan in June, 1974.
The Nixon administration was widely
criticized for its close ties with the military junta led by General Yahya Khan.
American diplomats in East Pakistan expressed
profound dissent in the Blood
telegram
The United States supported Pakistan both
politically and materially. US President Richard
Nixon denied getting involved in the situation, saying that it was an
internal matter of Pakistan, but when Pakistan's defeat seemed certain, Nixon
sent the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise to the Bay of
Bengal,[128] a
move deemed by the Indians as a nuclear threat. Enterprisearrived on
station on 11 December 1971. On 6 and 13 December, theSoviet Navy dispatched
two groups of ships, armed with nuclear missiles, from Vladivostok;
they trailed US Task Force 74 in the Indian
Ocean from 18 December until 7 January 1972.
Nixon
and Henry Kissinger feared Soviet expansion into
South and Southeast Asia . Pakistan was a close ally of the People's
Republic of China ,
with whom Nixon had been negotiating a rapprochement and which 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 . To
demonstrate to China the bona
fides of the United States as
an ally, and in direct violation of the US Congress-imposed sanctions on Pakistan , Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan and routed them through Jordan and Iran ,.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.
The Soviet Union supported Bangladesh and
Indian armies, as well as the Mukti
Bahini during the war, recognizing that the independence of Bangladesh would weaken the position of its
rivals – the United States and China . It gave
assurances to India that
if a confrontation with the United States or China developed, the USSR would
take countermeasures. This was enshrined in the Indo-Soviet friendship
treaty signed in August 1971. The Soviets also sent a nuclear
submarine to ward off the threat posed by USS Enterprise in the Indian Ocean .
At the end of the war, the Warsaw Pact countries
were among the first to recognize Bangladesh . The Soviet Union
accorded recognition to Bangladesh on
25 January 1972. The United
States delayed recognition for some months,
before according it on 8 April 1972.
As a long-standing ally of Pakistan ,
the People's Republic of China reacted
with alarm to the evolving situation in East Pakistan and the prospect of India invading West Pakistan and
Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. Believing that just such an Indian attack was
imminent, Nixon encouraged China to
mobilize its armed forces along its border with India to discourage it. The
Chinese did not, however, respond to this encouragement, because unlike
the 1962 Sino-Indian War when India was
caught entirely unaware, this time the Indian Army was prepared and had
deployed eight mountain divisions to the Sino-Indian border to guard against
such an eventuality. China instead
threw its weight behind demands for an immediate ceasefire.
When Bangladesh applied
for membership to the United Nations in 1972, China vetoed their application
because two United Nations resolutions regarding the repatriation of Pakistani
prisoners of war and civilians had not yet been implemented.. China was also among the last countries to
recognize independent Bangladesh ,
refusing to do so until 31 August 1975..
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