When A Pakistani Diplomat Quit And War Drew Closer: Army Revisits 1971’s Forgotten Headlines

On this day in 1971, a key Pakistani diplomat resigned as India-Pakistan tensions escalated; the Indian Army revisits the moment that shaped the lead-up to the Bangladesh war.

Pakistan's Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi signing Instrument of Surrender. (File photo: ANI)

New Delhi: The pages of history are rarely silent. On Wednesday (August), the Indian Army reopened one such chapter, the turbulent weeks leading up to the 1971 war, through its ‘This Day That Year’ post. This time, the focus was the growing momentum before the storm.

The Army’s Eastern Command posted a pair of newspaper clippings dated August 6, 1971 on X (formerly Twitter). The first headline read, “Burma-Pakistan Air Pact”. It pointed to Islamabad’s strategic preparations in anticipation of conflict with India. The military pacts were beginning to take shape, and wires were tightening.

The second clipping captured a different but equally telling moment, “Another Pak Diplomat Quits”. Diplomats were leaving. The ground beneath Pakistan’s government was shifting. The unrest in East Pakistan, what is now Bangladesh, was reaching a boil. The state machinery was beginning to show its cracks.

Those seemingly disconnected headlines, the Army highlighted, were fragments of a fast-unfolding picture, one that would, within months, break Pakistan into two and give birth to Bangladesh. 

#IndianArmy#EasternCommand#VijayVarsh #LiberationOfBangladesh #MediaHighlights

"This Day That Year" Build Up of War - 06 Aug 1971 #KnowFacts.

"ANOTHER PAK DIPLOMAT QUITS" @adgpi@SpokespersonMoD@HQ_IDS_India@indiannavy@IAF_MCC@ihcdhaka… pic.twitter.com/PDPE8fV34i

— EasternCommand_IA (@easterncomd) August 6, 2025

The full-scale war came on December 3, 1971. It ended only 13 days later on December 16. The numbers still echo: about 93,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered. No surrender of that scale had been seen since the World War II.

The Army’s post came a day after another reflection. On Tuesday (August 5), it had revisited the United States’ role during that war. Washington stood firmly behind Pakistan at that time. The post served as a subtle reminder of who backed whom, then and now.

That throwback has added weight today. Just days ago, India rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose higher tariffs, calling his criticism of India’s energy ties with Russia “unjustified and unreasonable”.

Meanwhile, Trump promised to help Pakistan build “massive oil reserves”. He also announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods, calling it a penalty for India’s continued oil imports from Moscow.

The diplomatic signals come as India reels from the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. In response, India launched Operation Sindoor, a calibrated military response aimed at reasserting deterrence.

As for the Army’s old clippings, they speak in silence. They point to a time when newspaper columns forecast the beginning of war, when a diplomat’s resignation meant more than bureaucracy and when the world’s alliances were not where they appeared to be.