Pakistan’s desperate, failed preemptive air strikes on December 3, India's multi-pronged invasion of East Pakistan, the naval blockade, the collapse of Pakistan's "fortress defence" strategy, the threat of the US Seventh Fleet, and the historic surrender of 93,000 Pakistani soldiers at the Dhaka Race Course.

Includes extracts from Archival speeches by Mrs Indira Gandhi, Gen Yahya Khan and Zulfikar Bhutto.

Sources -

The Blood telegram -Gary Jonathan Bass

The origins of war in South Asia-Sumit Ganguly

Interview with History - Oriana Fallaci

Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan- His Life & Times - Stanley Wolpert

Declassified US State Department and CIA Documents

The Betrayal of East Pakistan - A.A.K. Niazi

Through the 1971 Crisis- An Eyewitness Account by a Soldier - Hakeem Arshad Qureshi

#IndiaPakistanWar #IndiraGandhi #IndianHistory #IndoPak #SouthAsia #HistoryPodcast

As the refugees were pouring into India, the superpowers were engaged in a power play in the subcontinent. Pro-Pakistan tilt of US compelled India to sign a treaty with USSR, which served as a shield against intervention and left India free to deal with Pakistan.

Sources -

The Blood Telegram - Gary J Bass

De-classified US State Department and CIA Documents

Confrontation With Pakistan - BM Kaul

Official History of the 1971 India Pakistan War - History Division Ministry of Defence

Pakistan's Foreign Policy 1947-2019 - Abdul Sattar

#IndiaPakistan #HistoryPodcast #BloodTelegram #IndianHistory #ColdWar #Geopolitics

In one of the darkest chapters of the subcontinent's history, Pakistan Army unleashed Operation Searchlight - a planned pogrom of terror and violence unleashed on a section of its own population. The people of East Pakistan took refuge in India in millions, and the stage was set for an epic showdown.

Sources -

Official History of the 1971 India Pakistan War - MoD History Division

De-classified CIA and US State Department Documents

A Stranger in my own Country - Maj General Khadim Hussain Raja

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto - Six Steps to Summit - Kamaleshwar Sinha

The Betrayal of East Pakistan -- Lt Gen A.A.K. Niazi

Through the 1971 Crisis- An Eyewitness Account by a Soldier - Hakeen Arshad Qureshi

We've Learnt Nothing from History - Air Marshal Asghanr Khan

The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide - Gary J Bass