Agartala, Dec 16 (TIWN / IANS) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar unveiled a war memorial here Tuesday on the occasion of Vijay Diwas to commemorate the heroic soldiers of the Indian Army who laid down their lives in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.

Vijay Diwas was celebrated Tuesday as the Instrument of Surrender was signed by the Eastern Command of the Pakistan Armed Forces in Dhaka Dec 16, 1971, bringing the war for the liberation of Bangladesh to an end.

"The Indian Army accompanied by people of then East Pakistan fought a war most successfully and protected the sovereignty of both present Bangladesh and India. The army must be pro-people to achieve its desired goals," Sarkar said at the war memorial inauguration function.

A separate wreath-laying ceremony was organised at the War Memorial in the heart of Tripura capital Agartala.

Tripura Governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya accompanied by Tribal Welfare (Primitive Tribe, Plantation and Rehabilitation) Minister Manindra Reang, other dignitaries and security officials laid the wreaths in memory of the fallen soldiers.

India's Border Security Force and Border Guards Bangladesh officials exchanged sweets at various locations along the international border in celebration.

Discussions, cultural functions and a get-together of people from various walks of life were part of a day-long programme at the Bangladesh diplomatic mission here.

Historian Bikach Chowdhury said Tripura had six to seven camps in four sectors from where the 'Mukti Joddhas' (freedom fighters) fought Pakistani forces in the 1971 war that led to the creation of Bangladesh.

"Over 1,600,000 Bangladeshis - a number larger than the state's then total population of 1,500,000 - had taken shelter in Tripura alone," he said.

During the Bangladesh Liberation War, 10 million men, women and children from then East Pakistan took shelter in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya.

The 'Mukti Juddha' (Liberation War), as it is called in Bangladesh, later turned into a full-scale India-Pakistan war, leading to the surrender of nearly 93,000 Pakistani soldiers in Dhaka Dec 16, 1971.

India was the first country to recognise Bangladesh.

An official release said: "Operation Cactus Lily was launched Dec 3, 1971 by the Indian Army in East Pakistan. It was a brilliantly planned and meticulously executed military operation, culminating in the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani troopers in East Pakistan."

"Operation Cactus Lily is marked as one of the finest military operations in the glorious history of the Indian Army," the release added.

The Tripura government is creating a "Mukti Juddha" park at Chottakhola in Belonia, 115 km south of here, to commemorate the Bangladesh Liberation War and its heroes.