India and Pakistan are the first and second largest countries in South Asia respectively, and as the saying goes, one mountain cannot tolerate two tigers, and after the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, India and Pakistan have been at odds. Pakistan is on the weaker side in the India-Pakistan dispute and has been repeatedly suppressed by India.
For example, in the case of Kashmir, India and Pakistan broke out in October 1947 when the First Indo-Pakistani War broke out.
The war lasted two years, and in 1949 the two countries drew a ceasefire line, and India seized three-fifths of Kashmir's land and three-quarters of its population. Including Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir during the British Raj period, it was also controlled by India. And Pakistan has received only two-fifths of Kashmir's land and a quarter of its population.
After the partition of India and Pakistan, India not only suppressed Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, but also planned and carried out the secession of Pakistan. In 1971, the Third Indo-Pakistani War was launched in India, which divided Pakistan in two. So what's going on?
First, Bangladesh was once part of Pakistan. During the British colonial era, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were all part of British India. British India has a large population and mainly believes in two major religions, Hinduism and Islam.
In the late 19th century, an independence movement broke out in British India and the "Indian National Congress Party" was formed, referred to as the Congress Party. The Congress party at the time included both Hindus and Muslims. By 1906, Muslims in British India had formed their own political party called the All India Muslim League.
After the end of World War II, Britain was devastated by the war and was unable to maintain colonial rule in India. In 1946, the British sent the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to India to negotiate with various Indian factions, and proposed that British India could continue to achieve autonomy under the British colonial system, that is, the Dominion Plan.
Dominion is a special form of colonization under the British colonial system, which refers to the granting of autonomy to colonies, but diplomatic and military rights are still in the hands of Britain. For example, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were all British Dominions before independence. However, this plan was rejected by various Indian factions.
In 1947, the British appointed Mountbatten, who was good at coordination, as the viceroy of India, and after Mountbatten took office, he still tried to maintain a united India under the British framework, but neither Nehru nor Jinnah accepted it. Mountbatten was helpless, so he proposed a partition plan for India and Pakistan.
Under the Mountbatten Plan, British India was divided into a predominantly Hindu Indian federation and a predominantly Muslim Pakistan. The Muslims of British India are mainly found in Pakistan and Bengal. Thus, after the independence of Pakistan, the territory consisted of two parts. What is now Pakistan was then known as West Pakistan and Bangladesh was known as East Pakistan.
Second, India restricts the transport links between East and West Pakistan. After independence, Pakistan was a large country with an area of nearly one million square kilometers and a population of nearly 100 million. Moreover, East Pakistan and West Pakistan, located in the east and west of India, have caused an east-west attack on India, which makes it difficult for India to sit still.
However, East and West Pakistan are far apart from India, and can only be connected by air and sea. After the outbreak of the First Indo-Pakistani War, India imposed restrictions on traffic between East Pakistan and the west, and in terms of aviation, military aircraft were prohibited from passing through Indian airspace. On the maritime front, India has also interfered with the navigation of Pakistani ships. This has led to a very inconvenient transportation connection between East and West Pakistan, and over time there has been a lot of estrangement.
Thirdly, there is an internal dispute in Pakistan. Although both East Pakistan and West Pakistan are Muslims, they are not ethnically different, with the majority of West Pakistan being Punjabi and East Pakistan being Bengalis. The Bangladeshi population was large, accounting for 56 per cent of Pakistan's total population at the time, while the Punjabi made up 40 per cent of Pakistan's total population.
Although the Bengali population was larger, they did not have a high voice, and Pakistan was mainly controlled by the West Pakistan at that time, and the West Pakistan also vigorously promoted the Urdu language in the East Pakistan, which was opposed by the Bengalis.
Fourth, India supports East Pakistan. The gap between East Pakistan and the West gave India an opportunity, and India began to support the Bengali ethnic group in East Pakistan both economically and militarily. With the support of India, the Bengalis of East Pakistan built up an armed force. In 1970, a conflict broke out between the Bangladeshi Armed Forces and the Pakistani army, causing a large number of refugees to flee to India.
In 1971, India used this as a pretext to provoke the third Indo-Pakistani war. India's operational goal in this war is very clear, that is, to attack in the east and defend in the west, and to capture East Pakistan. India, with the cooperation of the navy and air force, blocked the communication between East Pakistan and West Pakistan, resulting in West Pakistan being unable to reinforce East Pakistan at all. India then adopted a "multi-centripetal assault" strategy, attacking East Pakistan from three directions, and with the cooperation of the Bengali armed forces, defeated the Pakistani defenders of East Pakistan in one fell swoop. At the end of 1971, Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan, and it can be said that India played a leading role in this, and without India's support, Bangladesh would have been difficult to become independent.