Delhi Agreement

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Delhi Agreement
Transfer of Population Under the Terms of the Delhi Agreement
Foreign Minister of Bangladesh)
Parties India
 Pakistan
 Bangladesh
RatifiersParliaments of India and Pakistan
DepositaryIndira Gandhi
Prime Minister of India
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Depositaries
LanguagesEnglish

The Delhi Agreement was a

Urdu-speakers in Bangladesh, not holding to account 195 senior military officials accused of breach of conduct during war and not making provision for a war crimes tribunal.[2]

The treaty was signed by the foreign ministers of

Bangladesh in New Delhi after the Simla Agreement.[1]

Background

During the 1971

Surrender of Pakistan
on 16 December 1971, including 195 military officers held for breach of conduct.

President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (at the time Chief Martial Law Administrator) threatened to put interned Bengali officials on trial if Bangladesh proceeded with plans to indict alleged Pakistani war criminals.[3]

Implementation

The treaty came into effect on 28 August 1973 and ended on 1 July 1974. Under the terms of the agreement,

General Niazi was the last Pakistan officer symbolically repatriated through the Wagah - Attari Border.[4]

Although the agreement called for the repatriation of

Stranded Pakistani
community in Bangladesh.

War crimes suspects

Among the PoWs, 195 Pakistani military officers held in India were identified as prime

war crimes suspects. Pakistan pressed for their release as one of its key demands. It pressured several Muslim countries to withhold recognition of Bangladesh until the release of the 195 officers.[7] India favoured their repatriation to Pakistan. In the text of the agreement, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, Kamal Hossain
, stated that:

the excesses and manifold crimes committed by those prisoners of war constituted, according to the relevant provisions of the UN General Assembly resolutions and international law, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and that there was universal consensus that persons charged with such crimes as 195 Pakistani prisoners of war should be held to account and subjected to the due process of law.[5]

Pakistan evaded Bangladesh's request to hold the trial of war crimes suspects. However, Aziz Ahmed, the Pakistani delegate at the Delhi meeting, stated that his government "deeply regretted any crimes that may have been committed".[5][2]

Legacy

The repatriation was an important milestone in the establishment of

9th President of Bangladesh. Many repatriated military personnel served in the leadership of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, including Rear Admiral Mahbub Ali Khan, Lt General Muhammad Mahbubur Rahman
and Lt Gen Attiq ur Rehman (a Lt Col, commanding an Anti Aircraft Artillery Regiment in 1971).

Pakistan's inability to repatriate stateless Urdu-speakers in Bangladesh as well as its refusal to try those accused of war crimes remains a major sore point in

Bangladesh-Pakistan relations
.

References

  1. ^
    S2CID 246007433
    .
  2. ^ a b Ahamed, Syeed (May 2010). "The Curious Case of the 195 War Criminals". Forum. The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 3 December 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  3. ISBN 978-0-87196-032-0
    .
  4. ^ a b UN. "Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees". UNCHR. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  5. ^ a b c "Text of the tri-patriate agreement of Bangladesh-Pakistan-India". 2 March 2008.
  6. ISBN 9780195076615
    .
  7. ISBN 9788129134165
    .

Readings
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