Surendra Kishore
India needs to be more cautious due to the increasing proximity of China to Russia on the question of Ukraine. Very few people know that in 1962, China attacked India only after the consent of the Soviet Union. India remained neutral in the recent Security Council meeting between Russia and the US amid fresh tensions over Ukraine. It was a wise move by India. Against this background, India has acquired the ability to mediate between the two super powers at some stage for reconciliation. Only neutral countries can mediate. Well, she is in the womb of the future.
But even in the days of peace, if the closeness between China and Russia increases, then it can become a cause of concern for India. In a similar international situation, expansionist China attacked India in 1962 and grabbed a lot of India’s land. It is another matter that in 1962, when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was in a time of unprecedented crisis in his life, America helped him. The Soviet Union did not, on whose friendship the Nehru government used to flinch a lot. America had stopped Pakistan from attacking India. China’s plan was that Pakistan should also trouble India at such a time.
When China attacked India in 1962, the Soviet Union shrugged it off by saying that we would not get into a fight between a friend and a brother. It was a good opportunity for Pakistan when India was under tremendous pressure. By the way, in the later years from a research, it was found that China attacked India only after the prior consent of the Soviet Union. The article based on the research was also published in ‘Illustrated Weekly of India’. In the backdrop of the defeat at the hands of China, a bewildered Prime Minister Nehru turned to America for help.
In those days BK Nehru was the Ambassador of India to America. Jawaharlal Nehru wrote several letters to the US President John F. Kennedy. Nehru wrote to Kennedy on November 19, 1962 that “We are fighting a losing war with China not only for the defense of democracy but also for the survival of this country in which we desperately need your immediate military help.” ” Earlier, Jawaharlal Nehru, under his short-sighted and impractical policy, had called China a brother and the Soviet Union a friend.
On the other hand, Kennedy himself once said about Nehru’s meeting with Kennedy that Nehru’s behavior was quite cold. But when China started capturing thousands of square kilometers of our land by attacking India on 20 October 1962, Nehru gave a sad message to America. On 19 November 1962, Jawaharlal Nehru wrote two letters to Kennedy in a matter of hours amidst great tension, anxiety and horror. These letters were kept secret for years so that Nehru’s pity would not come in front of the country. But later his photocopy got published in Indian newspaper.
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America is a trading country. He is also accused of being the surrogate of the world. It has many drawbacks. But imagine what would have happened if he had not stopped Pakistan from starting a war against India in 1962? Probably after this move of America, China then unilaterally ceased the ceasefire. Prior to that our rulers had made the state of defense preparedness of this country pathetic. VK Krishna Menon, who was facing the allegation of scam, was made Defense Minister by Nehru.
Just before the 1962 war, the Defense Ministry had asked for one crore rupees from the Finance Ministry. Finance Ministry did not. Read about the situation at that time in the words of one of the country’s foremost and oldest journalist Manmohan Sharma, “As a war correspondent I covered the Chinese attack. I remember that we were not prepared for war at all. Our army had no weapons, let alone clothes. Nehru ji never thought that China would attack us. I will mention a sad incident. 200 soldiers were airlifted from Ambala. He They were wearing cotton shirts and shorts. They were air-dropped in Bomdila, where the temperature was minus 40 degrees. There everyone died of the cold as soon as they were dropped.”
Journalist Manmohan Sharma has further said, “The war was going on, but our General Kaul had left the ground and came to Delhi. He was a relative of Nehru ji. Therefore he was spared. No government has yet to present the Henderson investigation report in Parliament. I didn’t dare.”
(The author is a senior journalist and political affairs expert)
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