Ahsan's Formula (or the Admiral Ahsan Mission) was a peace initiative mission dispatched by the Pakistani government to

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

in early 1971. The mission was led by Vice-Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan, then-governor of East Pakistan and commander of the army in the Eastern Theatre, to work out a peace initiative to end the political crises in east Pakistan. The mission came in the wake of increasingly strained and difficult foreign relations between Pakistan and East Pakistan since the civil unrest had gripped East Pakistan as Awami League's demonstrations and demands for the provincial autonomy against Pakistan's central administration after the

general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

held in 1970. Following the violent raids in Dhaka University by the East-Pakistani police supported by the military stationed in East, and ultimatum issued by India to intervene in the conflict, Pakistan had authorized Admiral Ahsan to carry out the investigations into a possible Indian intervention through a cable communication to work out a possible peace solution to end violence in East. The recommendations based on the studies were roughly based on six-point movement proposed by the

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

in 1969 and called for: * Center would control the defence,

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foreign Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United S ...

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, and the

currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...

. * Province(s) would have the authority to raise revenue and would fund the subject of the federation. *

Repatriation Repatriation is the return of a thing or person to its or their country of origin, respectively. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as the return of mi ...

of Western Pakistanis citizens and bureaucrats to Pakistan with Eastern Pakistanis stationed back to East. * Equal divisions of national assets between Pakistan and East Pakistan based on population census. The mission also called for Pakistan becoming a co-federation with Yahya Khan as president with Mujib being the Prime Minister of East while Bhutto being Prime Minister of Pakistan. Civil servants from Pakistan stationed in East would repatriated to Pakistan and the national assets would equally be divided between East and West Pakistan. The proposal was met with strong support from the

international community The international community is a term used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world. Usage Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is typically used to imply the ...

and India fell in line though reluctant. The formula was supported by the political leaders of West Pakistan, with the exception of

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

, and by the international community, including, reluctantly, India. However, the Mission was not supported by the military elements in the Yahya administration who debated acrimoniously over the scope of the mission's recommendations among the advisors in Yahya administration. By the fall of 1971, the mission's recommendations were bypassed with Admiral Ahsan submitting his resignation and posted back to Pakistan, followed by the resignation of Lieutenant-General Yaqub Ali Khan.

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* * {{Bangladesh–Pakistan relations Causes and prelude of the Bangladesh Liberation War 1971 in Pakistan Peace processes Bangladesh–Pakistan relations

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