<Table> <Tr> <Th colspan="2"> Indo - Pakistani War of 1971 </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td colspan="2"> Part of Indo - Pakistani Wars and Bangladesh Liberation War </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td colspan="2"> Lieutenant - General A.A.K. Niazi , the commander of Pakistan Eastern Command , signing the instrument of surrender in Dhaka on 16 Dec 1971 , in the presence of India 's Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora . Standing immediately behind from Left to Right : Indian Navy Vice Admiral Krishnan , Indian Air Force Air Marshal Dewan , Indian Army Lt Gen Sagat Singh , Maj Gen JFR Jacob ( with Flt Lt Krishnamurthy peering over his shoulder ) . Veteran newscaster , Surojit Sen of All India Radio , is seen holding a microphone on the right . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td colspan="2"> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Date </Th> <Td> 3 -- 16 December 1971 ( 13 days ) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Location </Th> <Td> Eastern Front : <Ul> <Li> India -- East Pakistan border <Ul> <Li> Bay of Bengal </Li> <Li> Pasha enclaves </Li> </Ul> </Li> </Ul> <P> Western Front : </P> <Ul> <Li> India -- Pakistan border <Ul> <Li> Line of Control </Li> <Li> Arabian Sea </Li> </Ul> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Result </Th> <Td> Decisive Indian victory . Eastern front : Surrender of East Pakistan military command . Western front : Unilateral Ceasefire . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Territorial changes </Th> <Td> <P> Eastern Front : </P> <Ul> <Li> Independence of East Pakistan as Bangladesh </Li> </Ul> <P> Western Front : </P> <Ul> <Li> Indian forces captured around 5,795 square miles ( 15,010 km ) land in the West but returned it in the Simla Agreement as a gesture of goodwill . </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th colspan="2"> Belligerents </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> <P> India </P> Provisional Bangladesh </Td> <Td> <P> Pakistan </P> East Pakistan </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th colspan="2"> Commanders and leaders </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> V.V. Giri ( President of India ) Indira Gandhi ( Prime Minister of India ) Swaran Singh ( External Minister of India ) Jagjivan Ram ( Defence Minister of India ) Gen Sam Manekshaw ( Chief of Army Staff ) Lt. Gen J.S. Arora ( GOC - in - C , Eastern Command ) Lt. Gen G.G. Bewoor ( GOC - in - C , Southern Command ) Lt. Gen K.P. Candeth ( GOC - in - C , Western Command ) Lt. Gen Manohar Lal ( GOC - in - C , Northern Command ) Lt. Gen Premindra Bhagat ( GOC - in - C , Central Command ) Lt. Gen Sagat Singh ( GOC - in - C , IV Corps ) Lt. Gen T.N. Raina ( GOC - in - C , II Corps ) Lt. Gen Sartaj Singh ( GOC - in - C , XV Corps ) Lt. Gen Karan Singh ( GOC - in - C , I Corps ) Lt. Gen Depinder Singh ( GOC - in - C , XII Corps ) MajGen Farj R. Jacob ( COS , Eastern Command ) MajGen Om Malhotra ( COS , IV Corps ) MajGen Inderjit Singh Gill ( Dir , Military Operations ) Adm S.M. Nanda ( Chief of Naval Staff ) VAdm S.N. Kohli ( Cdr . Western Naval Command ) ACM Pratap C. Lal ( Chief of Air Staff ) Rameshwar Kao ( Director of RAW ) Tajuddin Ahmad ( PM Provisional Government ) Col. M.A.G. Osmani ( Commander , Mukti Bahini ) </Td> <Td> Yahya Khan ( President of Pakistan ) Nurul Amin ( Prime Minister of Pakistan ) Gen. A.H. Khan ( Chief of Staff , Army GHQ ) Lt. Gen A.A.K. Niazi ( Commander , Eastern Command ) Lt. Gen Gul Hassan Khan ( Chief of General Staff ) Lt. Gen Abdul Ali Malik ( Commander , I Corps ) Lt. Gen Tikka Khan ( Commander , II Corps ) Lt. Gen Sher Khan ( Commander , IV Corps ) MGen Iftikhar Janjua † ( GOC , 23rd Infantry Division ) MGen Khadim Hussain ( GOC , 14th Infantry Division ) VAdm Muzaffar Hassan ( Cdr - in - Chief , Navy ) RAdm Rashid Ahmed ( COS , Navy NHQ ) RAdm Moh 'd Shariff ( Cdr , Eastern Naval Command ) RAdm M.A.K. Lodhi ( Cdr , Western Naval Command ) RAdm Leslie Norman ( Commander , Pakistan Marines ) AM Abdul Rahim Khan ( Cdr - in - Chief , Air Force ) AVM P.D. Callaghan ( Chief Ins , Pakistan Air Force ) Air Cdre Inamul Haq ( Cdr Eastern Air Command ) Gp. Capt . Z.A. Khan ( COS , Air AHQ Dhaka ) Abdul Motaleb Malik ( Governor of East Pakistan ) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th
who was the president of pakistan during 1971 war
Yahya Khan