Shiv Kunal Verma

Many Indians of my generation grew up on tales of the 1962 war with China. We were told that the Chinese betrayed our friendship. As time went by, I realized that we were also betrayed by our leaders.

This book sets the record straight. The book dives into the period of 1949-1950 when the Chinese annexed Sinkiang and Tibet. Shiv Kunal Verma has devoted space to describing some of the negotiations that took place in the 1920’s. He described how the Americans pressured the English to place Tibet under Chinese suzerainty.

The strategic approach that the Chinese have adopted comes through . Mr. Verma explains the reasons why the Chinese occupied Sinkiang and Tibet. He also points out that the world was recovering from World War II in 1949-50. The Chinese preyed on this to annex these two territories.

This seems to be a standard Chinese approach. Today, when the world is distracted by Covid-19, they have embarked on another round of expansionary moves.

There is a clear expose of Nehru’s failings as a leader – at least, in this aspect. The Non-Aligned Strategy was a disaster. He also points out that Nehru was suspicious of a strong Armed Forces, leading him to reduce investment here. Nothing has changed.

Finally, he ignored warnings from people like Sardar Patel and Gen. Thimmaiah. He appointed Gen. Kaul in his place, a man who was clearly incompetent for the task at hand.

India’s poor strategic planning on the battle field comes through. It is a tale of sorry leadership and valiant troops.

The Chinese, he mentions, were surprised by India’s collapse. It was a failure of leadership.

I can sense the anguish that flowed through him when he wrote the book, even though the tone was even-tempered. He has left us to learn, and to infer what we should learn. Know yourself, your terrain, your enemy. Plan, think strategically, execute. Have a plan B. Be unrelenting.

The Chinese propaganda machine was effective and smarter than ours. I was surprised to learn that they sent out radio announcements in Hindi, and often interfered with our radio signals. Our people, by contrast, did not even know where Tibet was.

This is a brilliant book. It is a sorry tale of how we were let down by poor leadership.

It is a tale well told. Have we learned the lessons of 1962? I wonder.… (mehr)