History of Pakistan (Tashkent Declaration)

1965-1970
The Second Indo-Pakistani War began on 5 August and ended on 29 September in a decisive Indian victory following the capture of Lahore which was due to the delayed UN ceasefire. During this delay of 6 days, the Indian Army was able to capture Lahore on 25 September and advanced further into Pakistan along the Punjab-Rajasthan border. The Indian Army had the upper hand with twice the number of serviceable tanks as the Pakistan Army and with the Pakistan Army having depleted 80% of its ammunition reserves. The war ended on 29 September with the Indian Army having captured Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Mangla.

The Tashkent Conference was held in Tashkent between Pakistan and India and was hosted by Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin. The Tashkent Conference ended with the handing over of Pakistan occupied Kashmir to India. Jammu and Kashmir was now recognised as a part of India and Pakistan surrendered its claims on the region, in return it was given back the territories occupied by India in Pakistan Punjab.

The Tashkent Declaration and the defeat severely humiliated Pakistan. The news of the Tashkent Declaration shocked the people of Pakistan. The Pakistani media had talked of Pakistani victories in the initial stages of the war. The then foreign minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto strongly protested the signing of the peace treaty, saying that Pakistan should have continued fighting the war than accepting the ceasefire. Bhutto was ousted from the Pakistani government. Pakistan had been engulfed by countrywide riots ever since the news of the Tashkent Declaration reached Pakistan. There were major industrial and labour strikes across the country which were subsequently fuelled by Bhutto's dismissal. Bhutto formed the People's Party of Pakistan, the PPP, a socialist party which gained massive popularity. The people started calling for the resignation of President Ayub Khan and this severely damaged his image. By December, a severe government crackdown, facilitated by the army led to the end of the civil unrest in Pakistan. President Ayub Khan retained power. Meanwhile, Bengali nationalism had been growing steadily in East Pakistan and the Awami League gained popularity. The round table conference scheduled by the Awami League with the President was cancelled because of massive civil unrest.

In 1967, the PPP tapped a wave of anger against Ayub Khan and successfully called for major labour strikes in the country. There was another severe crackdown on these strikes. The Awami League held the round table conference with the government of Pakistan and demanded greater autonomy for East Pakistan. Bhutto intervened and the deal was put down. None of the points made by the Awami League were considered by the Government of Pakistan. In 1967 a Socialist convention, attended by the country's leftist philosophers and notable thinkers, took place in Lahore. Having retained power, President Ayub Khan now shifted the focus of the government towards rearming Pakistan, having suffered a massive defeat in 1965. With an American arms embargo in effect, Pakistan forged closer defence ties with China and procured arms from France and China.

'''Leftists in Pakistan accused Ayub Khan of encouraging crony capitalism, the exploitation of workers and the suppression of the rights and ethnic-nationalism of the Bengalis (in East Pakistan), Sindhis, the Baloch and the Pashtun. The independence movement continued to grow in East Pakistan. By the end of 1968, Khan presented the Agartala Case which led to the arrests of many Awami League leaders, but was forced to withdraw it after a serious uprising in East Pakistan. Under pressure from the PPP, public resentment, and anger against his administration, Khan resigned from the presidency in poor health and handed over his authority to the army commander, General Yahya Khan, who imposed martial law.'''

Yahya Khan continued rearming Pakistan, importing weapons from abroad. Elections were scheduled for late 1970 in Pakistan. Pakistan imported an additional 40 F104 Starfighters and several F5s from the US and also started importing the F6 (Chinese Mig-19 copy) from China.

The War in East Pakistan and the Bay of Bengal Crisis
The genocide in Bengal began on 26 March 1971 with the launch of Operation Searchlight, as West Pakistan began a military crackdown on the Eastern wing of the nation to suppress Bengali calls for self-determination rights. The Indian government decided to intervene as world opinion slowly started to turn against Pakistan. News from East Pakistan had started to trickle out. Operation Chengiz Khan was launched by the PAF on 3 December 1971 against Indian airbases and military installations in North India as a preemptive airstrike. Pakistan had complete backing from the United States. Its ally having already faced a crushing defeat and severe territorial losses in 1965, the United States decided to intervene in the conflict on 4 December 1971. A standoff ensued between the Indian Navy and the US Task Force 74 led by the USS Enterprise. India was now on the back foot and abandoned all offensive plans and focused on defending the Pakistani attacks in the West and the East. The Soviet Union dispatched a group of cruisers and submarines and they arrived in the Bay of Bengal on 9 December 1971. During the time of the ceasefire the Pakistani forces in East Pakistan intensified the genocide and the US was able to supply West Pakistan with armaments through Iran. However, the rebel Bengali government continued to fight the Pakistani Army in East Pakistan. The Bay of Bengal crisis bought the USSR and the USA head-to-head and there was a threat of nuclear exchange. However, the US withdrew Task Force 74 from the Bay of Bengal on 12 December 1971 among severe international and domestic backlash against the Nixon government for indirectly supporting a major genocide and also to avoid a Cuban Missile Crisis like situation in the Bay of Bengal with the Soviet Union having deployed its ballistic missile submarines in the Bay of Bengal. During the standoff, India had to stop all offensive plans and also stopped supporting the Mukti Bahini (Freedom Brigade) fighters and as a result the Pakistani forces in East Pakistan gained the upper hand and struck down several rebel units and Bengali independence leaders in East Pakistan.

With the withdrawal of the US Task Force 74 from the Bay of Bengal, India resumed the Eastern and Western offensives. The War in East Pakistan ended on 26 December 1971 with the capture of Dhaka and General Tikka Khan surrendered to the Indian army. The War in the West continued. The PAF had been able to inflict severe damage on the Western Indian airfields and airbases and had gained temporary aerial superiority that lasted for a few days in early December however the Indian Army had been able to repulse major Pakistani attacks in Jammu and Punjab. After the fall of East Pakistan, India started the offensive in the West and Lahore was captured by 31 December 1971. The Soviet Union vetoed any attempts to sanction India or enforce a ceasefire. The Indian advance into West Pakistan ,however, led to the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of the independence movement, in the Lyallpur Jail in the Punjab in West Pakistan. The Indian forces continued to advance into Pakistan and a blockade of West Pakistan was established by the Indian Navy. The Indian Navy however had lost the INS Vikrant, it’s only aircraft carrier, to a torpedo attack from PNS Ghazi on 3 January 1972 as it was moving into the Arabian Sea. The Indian army with the help of the Indian air force severely decimated the Pakistani Army and captured several of its tanks and air bases. The war ended on 10 January 1972 with an unconditional Pakistani surrender when Indian forces captured the newly built Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Karachi had been captured on 8 January 1972.