during yaha khans time the whole country was running @ the advise of general rani ,things could have been handled in a much more realistic way had general Akbar khan or general Asghar khan been chief of staff instead of yahya khan, general Asghar khan i believe would have avoided operation searchlight @ any cost , thus creating a negotiating space where by granting east Pakistan complete autonomy or Independence handing it to Maulana Bhashani instead of Sheikh Mujib,Mulana Bhashani i believe was in a good position & could have secured a defense strategic pact between BanglaDesh,Pakistan & China thus avoiding the unnecessary blood shed from both the side's, as well as creating some kind of goodwill based mutual partway with strong military relation between the two wings, which would have countered the Indian influence to a great deal thus creating a good balance of power act in South Asia