The Decision to Intervene: First Steps in India's Grand Strategy in the 1971 War

摘要

Indian policymakers were well aware of the upsurge of nationalist sentiments among the Bengalis of East Pakistan since the mid-1960s. After the resounding Awami League victory in the 1970 elections, they knew that secession was a real possibility but they set their hopes on a democratic, united Pakistan under a government led by the Awami League. They believed that this offered the only possibility of a breakthrough in Indo-Pakistan relations. These hopes were shattered by the brutal crackdown of March 25.