Page 4 - ch 19

Module - V India-Pakistan War-1971

Major Wars Post
From the military point of view the objectives meant two things. One was to capture
Independence
Dacca the capital city of East Pakistan, and the second was to defend the Western
borders against any attack by Pakistan. You would have learnt in the previous lessons
that the partition of India was incomplete since Kashmir was a contentious issue between
the two countries. Hence preventing Pakistan from utilizing the opportunity to enter
into Kashmir was also the other objective of the war. Indian Armed Forces started
preparing for war. Training for war, getting ammunition and weapons, and clothing for
Note the jawans was all done very meticulously. The Chief of the Army Staff, Field Marshal
Sam Manekshaw, waited for monsoons to get over before starting any operations.
The Indian Armed Forces became fully prepared by December 1971.
What did Pakistan do? Political parties in West Pakistan launched a ‘crush India’
campaign.
On seeing India’s preparation for war and build up of Indian Army troops, Pakistan
launched surprise air strikes on 03 December 1971. Pakistani Air Force bombed
Indian airfields in Ambala in Haryana, Amritsar in Punjab and Udhampur in Jammu
and Kashmir. The strike was code named Operation “Chengiz Khan” and marked the
formal initiation of hostilities between the two countries. And soon after, India retaliated
to the attack in a swift manner. From now on the actual war began. The strategy of
Pakistan was to destroy Indian aircrafts and gain air superiority. This in effect means to
destroy enemy air fields so that the airspace will be brought under the complete control
without any resistance from enemy aircrafts. However, the attempt of Pakistani air
force to establish air superiority failed since the Indian air force quickly reacted. Indian
Air Force Hunters were used for bombing Pakistan airfields.

Intext Questions 19.2

1. When did the war begin?

2. What were the objectives of India in the war?
3. What do you mean by Operation Chengiz Khan?

19.2 Major Operations in the War

Before we look at the major operations, it is important to know the personalities
involved. On the Indian side the leader was Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the
Defence Minister was Babu Jagjivan Ram. The Chief of Army Staff was General
S.H.J.F. Manekshaw, the Chief of Air Staff was Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal and the
Chief of Naval Staff was Admiral S.M. Nanda. On the Pakistani side were General
Yahya Khan as the military ruler and Lieutenant General A.A.K. Niazi as the commander
of Pakistan’s Eastern Command under whose control was East Pakistan. The Indian
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered immediate mobilization of troops and to respond
to the strikes under the overall command of General Sam Manekshaw (later became

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MILITARY HISTORY