Realpolitik Books - IX

India's China War

Neville Maxwell, a Australian-British journalist, authored and published this book in 1970. India being my country and because of its most comprehensive defeat in the hands of China in the 1961 war, I always wanted to get objective information on the subject. This book is considered to be the most authentic and authoritative account of the Sino-Indian war in 1961. He had access to one of the mot sensitive documents on the subject, the Henderson Brooks-Bhagat Report, which was written by two Indian Army officers in 1963 to examine the causes behind India's defeat. This report was kept under wraps by the Indian Government till 2014 when the author published a part of it. Neville Maxwell broached controversy when sometimes in the 60s he predicted that India would not remain a democracy. Perhaps he overstepped as India till date remains a vibrant and powerful democracy. That aside, India's China War answers lots of questions.

This war was all about disputed international borders: Aksai Chin and McMohan Line. India claimed Aksai Chin as part of Ladakh which was administered by China as part of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. China dispute McMohan line, which was drawn as a result of 1914 Simla agreement between Tibet and Britain and which defined a 550 mile long border between British India and Tibet. China did not accept the validity of Tibetan Government, and therefore all agreements drawn by the Tibetan Government.

Zhou En-lai, the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, had often proposed to the first Indian Prime minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, to settle the dispute through negotiations as China had done with Burma, Nepal and Pakistan. However Nehru turned down the proposals as he stuck to his view that there is "no question about the alignment of India's boundaries" and asked China to withdraw its armed forces from the Indian territory in Aksai Chin. Nehru, in those days, was a law unto himself in Indian context. Buoyed by the tremendous public support that he commanded, he underestimated the strength of People's Liberation Army. India launched Operation Leghorn as part of the ill-fated Forward Policy, to evict Chinese armed force from its soil. The result of the war is now history and a shameful memory which hurts the Indian psyche till this date.

The book is full of irrefutable facts and figures. Its description of step-up to war is clear, precise and gripping. 

The book starts with a description of India's ambition to reclaim Aksai Chin. The Forward Policy or the so called decisive action by Nehru to confront China is examined next. China's willingness and preference for peaceful settlement and its dis-illusion for a peaceful settlement, mainly because of Nehruvian adamancy and immaturity of Indian politicians, is elaborated next. And then comes the painful defeat of the Indian Armed forces on all fronts which finally entered the soils of Assam and the India Army had to withdraw from Tezpur, near Guwahati, capital of state of Assam. China declared ceasefire, unilaterally, on November 21st, 1961.

Nehru, under cover, agreed for peaceful settlement and he sent a message to Zhou En-lai through Mrs Bandaranaike. prime minister of Ceylon (Sri-Lanka).

His expectations of help from Nasser, Russia did not materialize. He asked JFK's help in carrying out air strike on Chinese armed forces on Indian soil, thus throwing all principles of non-alignment to the wind. Although the last part is not accepted by Indian politicians, there is enough proof available withe Americans on Nehru seeking American air strike intervention.

I was a young kid in those days. I remember people talking about a friend stabbing in the back. Was it really that?

Namaste

Prabir