India marks 16 December as Vijay Diwas (Victory Day) to mark its military win over Pakistan in the 1971 war. On this day in 1971, Lt General AAK Niazi, then the Governor of East Pakistan signed the instrument of surrender to the allied forces (of the Indian Army and East Pakistan’s Mukti Bahini) led by Lt General Jagjit Singh Aurora.
As a result of this unconditional and unilateral surrender, East Pakistan was liberated and the new nation of Bangladesh was formed. The surrender was signed at Ramna Race Course in Dhaka, where Mujibur Rehman delivered his historic speech on 7th of March and virtually declared the region’s independence from Pakistan.