India’s victory against Pakistan in 1971 and Indira’s Diplomacy

India was able to gain a quick victory over Pakistan in 1971 due to :

• Surgical strikes carried by the IAF on the air fields on western front behind the enemy lines.
• Capture of critical posts on the western front
• Quick movement of the troops on eastern front and giving support to Muktibahini in critical areas
• Blockade and bombarding of the Karachi port by Indian navy.

But this response from the Indian forces -with Manekshaw at the helm-could have been proved useless without  critical support of USSR against any type of US interference in the war. Indira Gandhi achieved this by the diplomatic feat of signing a treaty of friendship with USSR just before the start of the war. Hence we can see that the victory of 1971 was as a victory as much of diplomacy as that of strategy.