40 years after 1971 war, General VK Singh to visit Bangladesh

New Delhi, June 16, 2011: As a young Sub Lieutenant in the Rajput Regiment in 1971, General VK Singh started to train the Mukti Bahini army for the liberation of former East Pakistan on June 19. Exactly four decades later he would set foot in Bangladesh - the country born as a result of that war – as the chief of the Indian Army.

In fact, General Singh, who was commissioned in the force in 1970, is the last chief of the Indian Army who would have seen action in the 1971 war.

While India might have erased all the records of the Indian Army helping the “Liberation Army” which fought against the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, General VK Singh is the living record of the war that resulted in the birth of Bangladesh.

General Singh is carrying along with him some “relics of 1971 war” to gift his Bangladeshi counterpart during his four day visit beginning June 19.

“We are gifting them two 3.7 howitzers. These guns were used by the first batter of the Bangladesh Army, also known as Mujib battery,” army sources said. The guns are no longer available with the Bangladesh Army. Hence, the Indian Army thought it a gift to mark the 40 years of the cooperation between the armies of the two countries.

Besides the chief would be gifting 50 computers and a rock climbing wall to the Bangladesh Army.

The Indian Army chief will be meeting Bangaldesh President Zillur Rehman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“The chief would be the chief guest at the passing out of the 64th Long Course and the 35th Special Course of the Bangladesh Military Academy on June 22,” the sources added.

A five-member delegation will be accompanying General Singh.

1971 Bangladesh Liberation War of 13 days is one of the shortest wars in the history. During the war, India fought Pakistani forces in the Eastern and Western Command before the Pakistani Army signed an Instrument of Surrender and over 90,000 Pakistani soldiers were taken as Prisoners of War by India.

As a build up to this thousands of Bangladeshis were given shelter in refugee camps on the Indian side. These camps were used for training the fighters of the Mukti Bahini.