Pakistani Instrument of Surrender

Instrument of Surrender of Pakistan
Lt. Gen. A. A. K. Niazi of the Pakistan Army signing the Instrument of Surrender under the direction of Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora of the Indian Army and Bangladesh Forces[1]
Ratified16 December 1971
LocationDacca, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
Signatories A. A. K. Niazi
Jagjit Singh Aurora
SubjectSurrender of the Pakistan Armed Forces Eastern Command
PurposeEnding the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

The Pakistani Instrument of Surrender (Bengali: পাকিস্তানের আত্মসমর্পণের দলিল, romanized: Pākistānēr Ātmôsômôrpôṇēr Dôlil) was a legal document signed between India (alongside the Provisional Government of Bangladesh) and Pakistan to end the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[2][3][4] Per the trilateral agreement, the Pakistani government surrendered the Armed Forces Eastern Command,[1][5][6] thereby enabling the establishment of the People's Republic of Bangladesh over the territory of East Pakistan. The document was signed by Jagjit Singh Aurora and Pakistan's A. A. K. Niazi, who corroborated the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani soldiers — the world's largest surrender in terms of number of personnel since World War II.[7][8] Despite the agreement, Pakistan did not formally recognize Bangladeshi sovereignty until February 1974.[9][10]

The ratification of the agreement by all sides also marked the end of the Bangladesh genocide, perpetrated by Pakistan during the conflict. Bangladesh and the Indian Armed Forces celebrate Pakistan's 1971 defeat and surrender on an annual basis, observing 16 December as Victory Day.[11][12][13]

  1. ^ a b "The Surrender Document". The New York Times. 17 December 1971. Archived from the original on 16 December 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  2. ^ Burke, S. M. (1974). Mainsprings of Indian and Pakistani foreign policies. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-6172-5. OCLC 234380949. ...continuing deadlock over the release of some 93,000 Pakistani prisoners of war, including 15,000 civilian men, women and children, captured in East Pakistan (the few hundred prisoners captured by each side on the Western front were exchanged on December 1, 1972).
  3. ^ "Dacca Captured". The New York Times. 17 December 1971.
  4. ^ "An unprecedented surrender, and the birth of a nation". 16 December 2022.
  5. ^ Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir, eds. (2012). "Prisoners of War, Trial of". Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  6. ^ "Flashback: From behind the barbed wire". Dawn. 16 December 2012. Archived from the original on 16 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  7. ^ Koul, Bill K. (2020). The Exiled Pandits of Kashmir: Will They Ever Return Home?. Springer Nature. p. 254. ISBN 978-981-15-6537-3. Archived from the original on 27 July 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2022. More than 90,000...., the largest ever since World War 2.
  8. ^ "Country marks 50 years of 1971 war". The Hindu. 16 December 2021. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022. It was the largest military surrender after the Second World War and the Indian armed forces, along with Mukti Bahini, liberated Bangladesh in a span of just 13 days and also the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani soldiers, the largest surrender of armed forces post Second World War.
  9. ^ "Pakistan Admits That Bangladesh Exists as Nation". The New York Times. 23 February 1974.
  10. ^ "Recognition, as equals". 17 March 2020.
  11. ^ "Vijay Diwas '23: How Indian Army made Pakistani counterpart surrender in just 13 days & liberated Bangladesh". The Economic Times. 16 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Victory Day celebrated". 16 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Birth of a Nation". The New York Times. 25 December 1971.