Role of International Communities in the Liberation War

During the nine months of blood-shedding battle which started on the 26th
March of 1971, the roles of the foreign actors were very significant and it must
be taken into consideration.

India, the Soviet Union, China, USA were one of the major key players who had
a direct stake in this war and their roles were quite different as in the field of
International Relations, every state actor always wants to serve their own
interest while taking any steps that can have a global impact.

India
The role of India was very friendly right from the beginning of the Liberation
War of Bangladesh and India supported Bangladesh from every point of view
because they also had their clear stake in this.

India gave shelter to more than 1 million war refugees who lost everything
during this war time and all they wanted to save their lives by crossing the
border. Indian government led by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi played their
charismatic role by taking care of this humiliated bunch of people by ensuring
them food, accommodation, medical assistance and India spent 700 million US
dollar just to look after this entire population who were subjected to all sorts of
decays by the West Pakistan.
Indira Gandhi went to visit Moscow to get the support of the Soviet Union in the
United Nations Security Council and we got to see the result later. When UNSC
was trying to look for the ceasefire option by the influence of other actors, the
Soviet Union gave their veto in that decision and so India could make a joint
and all scaled classified attack against the Pakistan Army.

India also gave Bangladesh the recognition as an Independent country on the

6th December of 1971. India helped the freedom fighters of Bangladesh by
training them up and also by providing them with the arms and ammunition
during the entire time of war.

Some experts say that it would be a lot tougher task to get the victory of
Bangladesh within a short possible time without the all-out support by India.

Soviet Union
The Soviet Union supported Bangladesh wholeheartedly and they used their
veto power consecutively three times in the United Nations Security Council
which made the way easier for Bangladesh to reach her ever desired goal,
“Independence”.

In some stages of this Liberation War, the Soviet Union even declared the war
as the “NATIONAL WAR”. The Soviet Foreign Minister during the time of war,
Andrei Gromyko said to Rogers who was the Foreign Secretary of the USA,”
The matter of East Pakistan is not an internal matter of Pakistan anymore. It
has become a global issue.”
The Liberation War of Bangladesh got international recognition and support
because of the diplomatic initiatives taken by Soviet Union.

China
The role of China was very much questionable as they were trying to help
Pakistan because of their self-interest to ensure their stronghold in South Asia
which Pakistan could help them to get established.

China was trying to portray this war as the internal matter of Pakistan where the
whole world was supporting Bangladesh as Pakistan was inhumane and they
were committing a mass genocide by killing millions of people. China could
have played a better role instead of helping Pakistan in these heinous activities.

USA
The United States of America didn’t play any praise-worthy role during the
Liberation War period as they did not want to make their bilateral relationship
with Pakistan bad because of this issue.

The USA treated this war as the internal matter of Pakistan and they were
secretly helping Pakistan financially and logistically. They raised the proposal
of the ceasefire in East Pakistan on the 4th December of 1971 which was done
to save Pakistan from getting defeated.

The United States of America even sent their 7th Naval Fleet in the Indian
Ocean to save Pakistan but that fleet could not get the scope to enter into the
Bay of Bengal because the Soviet Union also sent two task forces for tackling
the situation.

The USA played some positive roles too by giving financial aid to India for taking
care of the refugees that came from Bangladesh. The President of the United
States of America, Richard Nixon granted 250 million dollars for the people who
took shelter in the West Bengal, Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura region as the
war refugees.

The Soviet Union, USA and China were involved in this Liberation War for
serving their own interest to ensure their own domination over this region which
has geostrategic significance. It was also an unofficial competition among these
major actors of world politics.

Bangladesh got her independence on the 16th December of 1971 and 3 million
people sacrificed their very own lives to get freedom. Two lacs women were
being abused physically and they were mentally traumatized because of what
they had to go through. After all of these sacrifices, Bangladesh got to reach
her desired destination by establishing herself as an independent country in the
world map.