670 Arif talks between Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, which were finally conducted in Delhi in 1974. 3.2 Delhi Agreement The Delhi Agreement was signed on 28 August 1973 between Bangladesh, ­India and Pakistan in Delhi, India, in an effort to solve humanitarian problems. In the absence of the recognition of Bangladesh by Pakistan, it was not possible to hold tripartite talks to settle the humanitarian problems, as Bangladesh could not participate in such a meeting except on the basis of sovereign equality.40 Sheik Mujibur Rahman41 had declared that he would not take part in any meeting, bilateral or trilateral, unless Bangladesh was recognised by Pakistan.42 In February 1974, the recognition took place, thus facilitating Bangladesh’s participation in the tripartite meeting envisaged in the Delhi Agreement, on the basis of sovereign equality.43 Accordingly, the Foreign Minister of the Government of Bangladesh, the Minister of External Affairs of the Government of India, and the Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs of the Government of Pakistan met in New Delhi from 5 to 9 April 1974, and discussed various issues mentioned in the Delhi Agreement, in particular the question of the 195 PoWs and the completion of the three-way process of repatriation involving Bengalis in Pakistan, Pakistanis in Bangladesh, and Pakistani PoWs in India.44 The remaining Bangladeshi nationals in Pakistan would also be repatriated without delay. Pakistan agreed to the Delhi Agreement to transfer nonBengalis in Bangladesh who had opted for repatriation to Pakistan, in exchange for Bengalis in Pakistan and the return of PoWs.45 Bangladesh had decided to 40 41 42 43 44 45 Delhi Agreement, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan: Agreement on the Repatriation of Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees, The Agreement was signed in New Delhi on 9 April 1974, <casebook.icrc.org/case-study/bangladeshindiapakistan-1974-agreement>, visited on 5 April 2015. Sheik Mujibur Rahman (1920–1975) was the father of the Bangladeshi nation who led the war of independence and declared independence for Bangladesh. He was also elected as a first President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. See further Rahman, Sheik M ­ ujibur, <en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Rahman,_Bangabandhu_Sheikh_Mujibur>, visited 10 January 2018. Ghulam Mustafa and Qasim Shahzad Gill, ‘The Issue of Prisoners of War (pows), 1971 and Recognition of Bangladesh’, 4 International Journal of Business and Social Research (2014) p. 117. Delhi Agreement, supra note 40. Ibid. Ibid. international journal on minority and group rights 25 (2018) 664-678 This content downloaded from 147.188.245.205 on Wed, 25 Oct 2023 15:43:57 +00:00 All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms <UN>