Independence Of Bangladesh (1971-1975) And Its Profound Influence In South Asia Politics

This dissertation mainly discusses the independence of Bangladesh and its influence on South Asian politics from 1971 to 1975 under the framework of the theory of interdependence in international relations and realism.The main reason for choosing the period from 1971 to 1975,as the research object is that,Bangladesh declared its independence from Pakistan during the war between India and Pakistan in 1971,but it was not accepted by Pakistan.After several years of diplomatic efforts,it sought international recognition until 1975.It officially established diplomatic relations with China and Pakistan in 1975,and freed itself of India’s ‘protective’ control,which led to the real independence of Bangladesh,and started to play an important role in the South Asian political arena,laying the foundation for the South Asian political structure.In December 1970,Pakistan held a general election.The People’s National Party(The Awami League)led by Mujib,from East Pakistan,won the election.However,the Pakistani government(in West Pakistan)was reluctant to transfer power.In early spring 1971,the Bangladeshi people in East Pakistan participated in demonstrations to protest and then demanded independence.The Pakistani government sent troops to suppress the demonstrator,and the East Pakistan crisis broke out.After the East Pakistan crisis broke out,a large number of refugees fled to India.India sought to intervene in this crisis,a good opportunity to dismember Pakistan,its former enemy;subsequently,it implemented several measures to interfere in the crisis,First,it played the‘refugee card’ internationally,claiming that the influx of refugees from East Pakistan had caused a heavy economic burden for India.Second,it supported the People’s National Party(the Awami League)to establish a ‘provisional government of Bangladesh’ in India.Third,it provided military training to East Pakistanis who had entered India and returned them to East Pakistan to fight against Pakistan’s troops.Fourth,it internationalized the East Pakistan crisis,which strongly advocated the demand of Bangladeshis for national independence and rationality.Fifth,India signed the 20-years India-Soviet friendship and peace treaty with the Soviet Union,similar to a treaty of alliance.Sixth,it implemented a military intervention.India went to war against Pakistan in December 1971,and the third India-Pakistan war broke out.In this war,Bangladesh declared independence on December 16,1971,and the next day India declared a ceasefire against Pakistan.After Bangladesh’s declaration of independence,Pakistan refused to recognize it,and accused India for using the military intervention in Pakistan’s internal affairs to dismember Pakistan,and the newly established Bangladesh was not recognized internationally.In this particular period,India extended full support to establish Bangladesh.The two parties signed a formal friendship treaty in 1972,and signed a series of treaties between 1972 and 1975 to help to establish Bangladesh.At the same time,Pakistan made significant effort to reconcile East and West Pakistan,but Bangladesh resolutely sought to be recognized as a sovereign and independent state,and actively applied to join the Non-Aligned Movement,the United Nations,and the Commonwealth.India and Pakistan focused on the repatriation of prisoners of war,a war crime,and recognition of Bangladesh since a large number of Pakistani prisoners of war had been detained in India.The aim of the Delhi agreement signed in 1973 was to repatriate prisoners of war,including,Pakistani prisoners of war from India,Bangladeshi prisoners of war from Pakistan,and Bihari’s prisoners of war from Bangladesh.In 1974,with the help of the Organization of Islamic Conference,Pakistan intended to extend recognize Bangladesh,and the tension between the two sides decreased.After,improving relations with Pakistan,Bangladesh was also under Indian influence.At that time,the Indian influence infiltrated various levels of Bangladesh,and Bangladesh had to rely heavily on India.Mujib,the founding father of Bangladesh,attempted to establish a single-party system and introduced the national security forces.The anti-government orientation compounded in the Bangladesh army,and it conspired to overthrow the Mujib regime.In 1975,the Mujib government was overthrown,with an assassination through a military coup.The Political party and leadership had changed in Bangladesh.The political ideology of Mujib’s government was different from that of the new government of Bangladesh.The new government of Bangladesh carefully maintained relations with India.Subsequently,Bangladesh established formal diplomatic relations with Pakistan and with China.Since then,Bangladesh has been a truly independent country.After 1975,Bangladesh pursued an independent and peaceful diplomatic policy and,maintained friendly relations with China,the United States,the Soviet Union,and Pakistan.In addition,it attempted to reduce its dependence on India,thus establishing a trilateral political pattern in South Asia:-India,Pakistan and Bangladesh.After independence,Bangladesh decided to expand the country’s prosperity based on its own geographical location.On the one hand,it actively developed its foreign economic relations centered on India.On the other hand,it signed trade agreements with other South Asian countries,such as Nepal,Bhutan,Sri Lanka and The Maldives,etc.,established joint economic committees,established diplomatic missions and developed interdependence.Therefore,until today,Bangladesh has played an active role in South Asian international politics.The case of Bangladesh’s independence from 1971 to 1975 and its influence on South Asian politics has demonstrated that in international relations,countries are interdependent,and small countries also advocate independence and equality,and can play an important role in inter-state politics.