The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 POWs investigations was the issue that investigated by the Government of Pakistan to determine the fates of Pakistani servicemen who were reported as taken as POWs during the two conflict in Indian subcontinent— the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and the Bangladesh Liberation War, also in 1971. The investigations were carried out by the Government of Pakistan as an aftermath of the strong political backing of civil society related to the treatment of the affected families of the military servicemen.
Contents
On the 16th of December in 1971, the unified Eastern Command of Pakistani military had signed an surrender treaty with the encroaching Indian Army that resulted in the surrendering of ~90,000 Pakistani servicemen to the Indian Army alone. This was the largest surrender of military servicemen that the world had seen since the end of World War II. The overwhelming majority of the servicemen were the officers whereas most of them were belonged to army, paramilitary, navy, and marines; a relatively small number of air force airmen were held as POWs. A handful of Pakistani civilians were also captured in the East Pakistan's encirclement by the Indian Army.
During the coarse of the war, India took approximately ~90,000 POWs that directly contributed to the recognition of Bangladesh's sovereignty as Indian government used this action as a tool to coerce Pakistan and then eventually other nations to recognize Bangladesh’s sovereignty and independence, which also had the effect of increasing India's national security by removing a hostile Pakistani-controlled state from India's eastern border. The POWs release was conditional to not only Pakistan’s acceptance of Bangladesh’s independence but also that of other nations including Bhutan, USA, USSR, and China. By holding these 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war, India gained itself a bargaining chip to aid in establishing Bangladesh’s sovereignty.
Custody
India treated all the POWs in strict accordance with the Geneva Convention, rule 1925. These 90,000 POWs were slowly released by India in a six-month duration following the end of the war on December 16, 1971. The POWs were not released until Pakistan agreed to sign the Simla Agreement. The Simla Agreement treaty ensured that Pakistan recognized the independence of Bangladesh in exchange for the return of the Pakistani POWs. In India, the war is rightly remembered for the ethos of the Indian Army that took one of the biggest surrenders of the modern history of mankind and yet stuck to an honourable code of conduct. An army is known for its treatment meted out to the vanquished.
Foreign relations impact
The foreign reaction to India’s taking of these 90,000 POWs varied from nation to nation. The United Nations supported India’s move as they condemned the human rights violations the Pakistani Armed Forces inflicted upon Bangladeshis. As a result, the U.N. was quick to accept Bangladesh’s independence. Bhutan became the second country after India to recognize Bangladesh’s independence and did so with no issues. The United States however, was an ally of Pakistan both materially and politically, and as a result they did not support India’s taking of 90,000 Pakistani POWs. The U.S. saw India’s actions as threatening especially since India had just became a nuclear power and maintained close military ties with the U.S.S.R. The Soviet Union supported both the armies of Bangladesh and India and thus supported Bangladesh’s unwaveringly. As a result of Soviet support, all nations that were part of the Warsaw Pact also recognized Bangladesh’s independence. Soviet backing ensured that the states in the U.S.S.R.’s sphere of influence, including Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania all recognized Bangladesh’s independence. China, despite being a communist nation, was also an ally of Pakistan and did not support the measures India took to have Bangladeshi sovereignty recognized. China even went as far as vetoing Bangladesh’s application to become a member of the United Nations and was one of the last nations in the world to recognize Bangladeshi independence, not doing so until August 31, 1975.