'Red Navy' in Bangladesh: Soviet naval operations in Chittagong and Mongla ports

The Bangladesh War of Independence began in March 1971 as a regional war between the West Pakistan in the Middle East and the East Pakistan in Southeast Asia, which was geographically confined to East Pakistan. But gradually this war turned from an internal war to an Indo-Pakistani bilateral war and eventually turned into a battleground of the Cold War.The two Anglo-Saxon superpowers, the United States and Britain, and socialist China sided with Pakistan in the war.

In December 1971, the Bay of Bengal on the southern border of Bangladesh became a lake for the Indian and Soviet navies. From December 3, 1971, the Indo-Pakistani naval war began in full swing. The Pakistani navy deployed in East Pakistan / Bangladesh was very weak and from the very first day of the war the British navy aircraft carrier INS Vikrant of the Indian navy laid siege to East Pakistan.Heavy bombardment by the Indian Air Force sank several Pakistani naval vessels, as well as the Chittagong seaport on the banks of the Karnafuli River and the Mongla seaport at the junction of the Mongla and Pashur rivers. To nullify the Indian naval blockade imposed on East Pakistan, the Pakistan Navy sent a US-built submarine 'PNS Ghazi' from West Pakistan to East Pakistan.But it is destroyed in mysterious situations along the way. In order to prevent the possible entry of the Indian Navy into the ports of Chittagong and Mongla, the Pakistanis planted numerous mines at the entrances of the two ports.

Although China has verbally condemned Indian intervention in East Pakistan, it has refused to take part in the Indo-Pakistani war due to the deployment of Indian troops on the Sino-Indian Himalayan border, China's military and economic weakness due to the 'Cultural Revolution' and the threat of Soviet invasion of Xinjiang and Northeast China.The United States and Britain sent two ships to the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea to ease Indian pressure on the militarily stranded Pakistan, and the nuclear-armed US aircraft carrier USS Enterprise was part of the fleet sent to the Bay of Bengal.