The geopolitical dimension of 21st November 1971 celebrated as the Armed Forces Day of Bangladesh

Islam Khan, M. Z. (2025) The geopolitical dimension of 21st November 1971 celebrated as the Armed Forces Day of Bangladesh. Journal of Governance, Security & Development, 5 (2). ISSN 2708-2490 doi: 10.52823/EHEE2355

Abstract/Summary

The combined offensive of 21 November 1971 – now celebrated as Bangladesh’s Armed Forces Day—marked India’s first overt military engagement in support of Bangladesh’s ongoing Liberation War, which was intensified following the attack. However, India opted for a ‘strategic pause’ until December 3. This paper explores India’s compulsions for the pause, Pakistan’s reactions, and the significance of the military offensive from Bangladesh's perspective through a geopolitical lens. Examining relevant official records of the United Nations, the Indian Lok Sabha and Bangladesh’s provincial government, the paper finds that to draw international legitimacy, India opted for a strategic pause relegating her military intervention in the East as an ‘insignificant prelude.’ Pakistan's pre-emptive strike in the West on 3 December 1971 exposed her to further international obloquy as an ‘aggressor’ and ‘initiator,’ transforming the Liberation War into an ‘Indo-Pak’ war. From Bangladesh's perspective, the November offensive was not a ‘precursor,’ but a continuation, an inevitable merger of the two forces, while retaining Bangladesh’s political authority and ownership of the war amidst a complex geopolitical context. The course followed by Bangladesh and India was guided by geopolitical considerations—exemplifying Clausewitz's maxim that war is an instrument of (geo)politics by other means.