A peculiar feature of the Indian security state is the frequency with which failures to anticipate enemy action are explained away as 'intelligence gaps or failures'.
On 19 November 1962, PM Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the people of Assam in a radio address and spoke of the resolve against Chinese attack, saying India won't tolerate this invasion.
With more focus on traditional culture & national security, new textbooks will be rolled out next week and by 2026 will be taught to all grades in primary classes and junior high.
Congress has distanced itself from his remarks with senior leader Jairam Ramesh saying his colleague had apologised 'unreservedly' for using the term 'mistakenly'.
The armed forces need to be vigilant that their actions are in the national interest and that they are not unwittingly doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.
If we had not had a dysfunctional National Security apparatus & a mentally agile proactive military leadership, we would have analyzed those initial battles and within a year or so.
Remarks being seen as response to Chinese govt’s attempt to lay claim to places within Indian territory. Shah also referred to Kibithoo as country’s ‘1st village, from where India begins’.
In a seminal work, former military officers Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda & Lt. Col. Pavithran Rajan put forth a framework to approach cognitive warfare, called Socio-Technical-Cognitive Battlespace.
India, China and Russia share more contradictions than congruence. Each has a different worldview, as also a different adversary. The rude fact is that BRICS is the most irrelevant of all such groupings.
History is full of conflicts and wars and borders always kept on changing. You cannot stop in resolving current issues just because historical conflicts existed. Resolving the border issue is the first step towards normalising India-China relations. Yes, there are further steps ahead, but you cannot take those steps until you comple the first step.
This column sets out some things I have long suspected but never got into too deeply. The Dalai Lama was given asylum in 1959. In 1962 India and China were at war. When Indian and Chinese diplomats, security officials meet, the true facts are known to both sides. So perhaps the constructive thing to do would be to not double down on past errors of judgment. Accept too that although at the time of independence, both counties were roughly at par, a condition that lasted for a few decades, there is now a 5 : 1 asymmetry. It cannot be bridged or overcome by friendship with USA. Japan and Australia are too far away to play any meaningful in India’s security calculus.
Will post my second comment after reading this excellent column. The first one after reading the blurb. That has always been my view as well. The areas in contention are not Shenzhen and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Which is why it is possible for India and China to improve their relationship, which has a very large trade component, even as a comprehensive border settlement proves elusive. 2. It is not in India’s interest to enter into a costly arms race with China. Economically and militarily, China is in USA’s league.
History is full of conflicts and wars and borders always kept on changing. You cannot stop in resolving current issues just because historical conflicts existed. Resolving the border issue is the first step towards normalising India-China relations. Yes, there are further steps ahead, but you cannot take those steps until you comple the first step.
This column sets out some things I have long suspected but never got into too deeply. The Dalai Lama was given asylum in 1959. In 1962 India and China were at war. When Indian and Chinese diplomats, security officials meet, the true facts are known to both sides. So perhaps the constructive thing to do would be to not double down on past errors of judgment. Accept too that although at the time of independence, both counties were roughly at par, a condition that lasted for a few decades, there is now a 5 : 1 asymmetry. It cannot be bridged or overcome by friendship with USA. Japan and Australia are too far away to play any meaningful in India’s security calculus.
Will post my second comment after reading this excellent column. The first one after reading the blurb. That has always been my view as well. The areas in contention are not Shenzhen and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Which is why it is possible for India and China to improve their relationship, which has a very large trade component, even as a comprehensive border settlement proves elusive. 2. It is not in India’s interest to enter into a costly arms race with China. Economically and militarily, China is in USA’s league.