Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had convinced the World before 1971. She and Manekshaw both knew timing was key

On 28 or 29 April 1971 — the exact date is unclear — Prime Minister Indira Gandhi convened a crucial cabinet meeting to discuss the crisis in “East Bengal”.

The term “East Bengal” was first used in a parliamentary resolution of 29 March 1971, condemning the brutal crackdown in “East Pakistan” – a more dispassionate term used on previous occasions. The use of the term “East Bengal”, argues Chandrashekhar Dasgupta, the author of a remarkable new book on ‘India and the Bangladesh Liberation War’, showed that the prime minister was a “step ahead of her advisors”. “She had quickly grasped,” according to Dasgupta – an Indian diplomat who served in Bangladesh between 1972 and 1974 – that Pakistani President Yahya Khan’s heavy-handed tactics “had delivered the final death blow to Pakistan’s unity.”

To discuss the crackdown and India’s approach to the same, General Sam Manekshaw – then Indian Chief of Army Staff – was invited to the 28/29 April meeting. Others included foreign minister Swaran Singh, possibly defence minister Jagjivan Ram, prime minister’s adviser P.N. Haksar, and others