145;We worked very well together146;

Although we, Jagjit Singh Aurora and myself, had met several times as young officers 8212; my brother was in the Punjab Regiment and so was...

Although we, Jagjit Singh Aurora and myself, had met several times as young officers 8212; my brother was in the Punjab Regiment and so was he 8212; my clearest memory of him was as an instructor at Staff College in the early 8217;50s. My impression of him from those days was that he was a good instructor and an effective communicator. He was also not set in his ways 8212; always open to suggestions, even those from junior officers.

Of course, we had our professional disagreements 8212; every good professional has disagreements with colleagues 8212; but our relationship I would like to compare to the legendary partnership between Paul van Hidenburg and Eric Ludendorff during World War One. He was army commander and I was his chief of staff and we worked very closely and very well together, indeed, especially during the Bangladesh war.

I remember that moment in our history very well indeed. On December 16, I was ordered to go and get the surrender. I left Calcutta for Dacca by helicopter. Around mid-day, I got through to General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi8217;s headquarters and asked him to implement the ceasefire. This he did. We read out our draft surrender document to him and left it before him to consider. Half an hour later, when we returned, it was still lying where I had left it on the table. I asked him if he accepted it. He did not reply. I repeated this question twice. I then told him that I took it as accepted. He still did not reply.

I went ahead with the modalities of the surrender. I told General Niazi that he would have to surrender in public at the Race Course Maidan in front of the people of Dacca. He objected to this but we insisted. We then drove to the airport in his car to pick up General J.S. Aurora and his wife, along with others who had come to witness the surrender. General Niazi signed the document and then General Aurora appended his signature to it. There were tears in General Niazi8217;s eyes. Those who had gathered to watch had wanted to mob him and it was with some difficulty that we could put him into a car and drive him away.

Not too long ago, we 8212; Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, who was army chief during the Bangladesh war; General Aurora, chief of Eastern Command and myself, his chief of staff 8212; met at a party thrown by then army chief, General Vij. The three of us sat on a sofa and talked a little bit about that famous moment. But it was a difficult conversation to maintain because we had all grown old, and General Aurora couldn8217;t hear very well. But we had a little chat on old times, nevertheless!

Over the years I kept in touch with General Aurora although, towards the end, his health began to fail him. I think the loss of his wife 8212; who I remember as a particularly charming and vivacious person 8212; furthered this process greatly. I will miss him. He was a true soldier and a good friend.