India and Bangladesh achieved a historic victory in the 1971 war. Yet fifty years later, important questions remain about India?s aims and policy in the war. Did India have a plan to break up Pakistan? When and why did it involve itself with the Bangladesh freedom struggle? When did India decide to prepare for military action? Why was no other country prepared to support the cause of an independent Bangladesh? How was India able to counter the US?China?Pakistan axis that emerged dramatically midway through the liberation struggle? How did India persuade the Soviet Union to shed its initial reluctance to support the liberation war? Did India ?win the war but lose the peace? by signing the Simla Agreement?