International recognition of Bangladesh

Bengali politicians and army officers announced the declaration of Bangladesh's independence in response to Operation Searchlight.

Bengali military, paramilitary and civilians formed the Mukti Bahini ("Liberation Army"), which engaged in guerrilla warfare against Pakistani forces.

Though the United Nations condemned the human rights violations during and following Operation Searchlight, it failed to defuse the situation politically before the start of the war.

Following Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's declaration of independence in March 1971, India undertook a worldwide campaign to drum up political, democratic and humanitarian support for the people of Bangladesh for their liberation struggle.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi toured a large number of countries in a bid to create awareness of the Pakistani atrocities against Bengalis.

After lengthy discussions on 7 December, the United States made a resolution for "immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of troops".

By the time proposals were finalised, Pakistan's forces in the East had surrendered and the war had ended, making the measures merely academic.

Bhutto, frustrated by the failure of the resolution and the inaction of the United Nations, ripped up his speech and left the council.

Pakistan was a close ally of the People's Republic of China, with whom Nixon had been negotiating a rapprochement and which he intended to visit in February 1972.

Bangladesh's founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was kept imprisoned by Pakistani authorities (even after the end of war) before being released in January 1972.

Muslim-majority countries including Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia however pressured it because they wanted to fix this discord that had emerged in the Islamic world.

On 22 February 1974, Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto officially announced recognition of the country during a speech before a Lahore television studio that was filled to full capacity; he also got emotional while speaking.

Believing that just such an Indian attack was imminent, Nixon encouraged China to mobilise its armed forces along its border with India to discourage it.