India needs to revisit 1962 humiliation for catharsis

October 10, 2012
Neharu

New Delhi, October 10: Any reading of the Sino-Indian war of 1962 does not look good for India. Whether it was Jawaharlal Nehru's misreading of Chinese intentions in the wake of his support to Tibet's rebellion, India's "forward policy" that meant different things to different people, Mao Zedong's desire to teach India a "lesson" or the subsequent national security paranoia that it bred in the Indian political and security systems ...1962 evokes mixed feelings in India even after half a century.

But for India to grow out of the morass of humiliation, it's necessary to revisit that war, and perhaps admit to major blunders committed at every level, not least at the very top.

In 1951, China began its occupation of Tibet, which, by 1959, became a full-throated conquest. Until 1959, India tried to diplomatically persuade Beijing to give some kind of autonomy to Tibet along with providing covert arms shipments to the Tibetan rebellion.

India's discomfort stemmed from the fact that it believed the loss of Tibetan independence robbed New Delhi off an important buffer in the Himalayas. But Beijing viewed India's actions as interference in its internal affairs, and Mao ordered "harder approach" to India's meddling.

In India, Nehru maintained the romance of Hindi-Chini friendship. A more realistic Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel proposed better border development, strengthening of the military presence etc and to better integrate the north-eastern states. John Garver, in Protracted Contest, writes, "Patel saw clearly the linkage between Tibet and what would become the crux of the border/territorial issue."

Nehru looked at the inhospitable Tibetan terrain and decided first, not to push the Chinese too far, second that they would not be able to maintain troops in distant Tibetan plateau, and third that China would not engage in any major attack against India. However, he completely missed the technology argument, which China could and did.

By 1959, a huge change came over Indian public opinion at China's open repression in Tibet, which led the Dalai Lama to flee to India in 1959. In April, 1960, Nehru reject Zhou Enlai's boundary settlement proposal. Mao was convinced India was working with the US and USSR against China. Contemporary Chinese thinking believed that India's desire to keep Tibet was the cause of the 1962 war. India has refused to declassify documents of that era.

Nehru's forward policy, his demand that China vacate "all Indian territory" and his support of the Tibetan rebellion were all part of these classified docements. China had been active in Aksai Chin for over a decade before 1962. India was aware of Chinese activity there from 1951. But in 1953, Nehru decided to redraw the boundary that included Aksai Chin within India, as opposed to British policy of 1899, which kept Aksai Chin out of India. In 1957, Beijing's road building activities could not be ignored any longer, and India sent patrols to the area. It would be the beginning of the India-China conflict that would culminate in 1962.

By 1961, Nehru's forward policy had taken shape, creating 60 forward posts, 43 of them north of the McMahon Line. Meanwhile, China, too, had been preparing for war with India because Mao wanted to teach India "a lesson".

Indian units reported increased Chinese aggression, but the Nehru government did not read the tea leaves. China prepared for war, while India missed the clues. After intermittent clashes in the preceding days, when on October 20, 1962, China launched massive strikes in the north-east and Ladakh, India was completely caught off guard.

The Himalayan war ended in a rout of Indian forces. Chinese then withdrew although their victory was not without cost. The defeat, however, changed India's view of China forever. India claims the moral high ground, blaming China for a stealthy strike but it completely misread its giant neighbour. Mao, who saw Nehru as a conniving and pretentious leader, began and ended the war on his own terms.

In between, Indian troops suffered successive reverses. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) overran Indian positions south of the Mcmahon line. Chinese troops overwhelmed Indian defences by the sheer weight of numbers and Tawang was soon under attack.

In the north-east, confusion and courage, foolhardiness and daredevilry were all playing out as a dazed military leadership dithered about its response. Major General A S Pathania, commanding the fourth division in Kameng in Arunachal Pradesh, ordered his troops to withdraw in humiliation.

On October 24, 1962, Zhou offered Nehru a settlement that was rejected. Parliament passed a resolution resolving to "drive out aggressors" from Indian soil. Hostilities resumed with Chinese attacks on Sela and Bomdila. PLA was close to Tezpur, when China declared a unilateral ceasefire and withdrew 20km from the Line of Actual Control. According to Henry Kissinger, Mao did not see India as a perpetual foe, but famously remarked that force will "knock Nehru back to the negotiating table".


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News Network
July 5,2020

New Delhi, Jul 5: With highest-ever single-day spike of 24,850 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, India's coronavirus count stood at 6,73,165, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

Out of the total cases, 2,44,814 are active cases. On the other hand, India's cured/discharged patients count crossed the 4 lakh mark with 4,09,082 patients cured/discharged and one patient migrated.

As many as 613 deaths due to coronavirus were reported in the country in the last 24 hours taking the death toll in the country to 19,268.

Meanwhile, the ministry said that collective and focused efforts for containment and management of COVID-19 by the government of India along with the States/UTs have led to the number of recovered cases among COVID-19 patients rise to 4,09,082 as of today.

"During the last 24 hours, a total of 14,856 COVID-19 patients have been cured. So far, there are 1,64,268 more recovered patients than COVID-19 active cases. This takes the national recovery rate amongst COVID-19 patients to 60.77 per cent," the ministry said.

"With 786 labs in government sector and 314 private labs, there are as many as 1,100 labs in India," it added.

As per the Health Ministry, coronavirus cases in Maharashtra -- the worst affected state from the infection -- has breached the 2 lakh mark with 2,00,064 cases including 8,671 deaths.

Tamil Nadu reported 4,150 fresh COVID-19 cases and 60 deaths today, taking total cases to 1,11,151 and death toll to 1,510. Number of active cases stands at 46,860, according to the State Health Department.

Delhi's coronavirus tally nears the 1 lakh mark with 99,444 cases and the number of people succumbing to the virus stands at 3,067 in the national capital. As many as 9,873 RT-PCR tests and 13,263 rapid antigen tests were conducted today in Delhi. Total tests done so far stands at 6,43,504.

Meanwhile, Indian Council of Medical Research informed that the total number of samples tested up to July 4 is 97,89,066 of which 2,48,934 samples were tested yesterday.

There were seven new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours in Chandigarh, taking total cases to 466 including 395 recoveries and six deaths.
Himachal Pradesh Health Department informed that COVID-19 cases reach 1,048 in the state, of which, 309 cases are active and 715 have recovered.

Andhra Pradesh has reported 998 new COVID-19 cases and 14 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to a media bulletin released by AP state COVID nodal officer.

A total of 1,155 COVID-19 cases were reported in the last 24 hours in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, taking the total number of active cases to 8,161 in the state, an official said. According to the official data, a total of 18,761 people have been cured while 785 people have died due to the virus in the state.

Eighteen more personnel of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. There are total 151 active cases and 270 have recovered till date.

While, in the last 24 hours, 36 more Border Security Force (BSF) personnel tested positive for COVID-19 and 33 have recovered. There are 526 active cases and 817 personnel have recovered till date.

In Rajasthan, 224 fresh COVID-19 positive cases and 6 deaths were reported today. The total number of cases rose to 19,756 including 3,640 active cases and 453 deaths.

Odisha reported 469 new COVID19 positive cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 9,070 including 5,934 recovered cases and 3,090 active cases, according to the health department.

Uttarakhand reported 31 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking total cases to 3,124. Recovery rate among COVID-19 patients stands at 80.79 per cent.

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Agencies
May 9,2020

New Delhi, May 9: Home Minister Amit Shah today tweeted to say he is healthy and not suffering from any disease, dismissing recent rumours on social media about his health. "I want to make it clear that I am completely healthy and do not suffer from any disease," the Home Minister wrote.

The 55-year-old home minister said for the last few days, some people on social media have been spreading rumours about his health. "In fact, many have tweeted even wishing for my death," he said.

मेरे स्वास्थ्य की चिंता करने वाले सभी लोगों को मेरा संदेश। pic.twitter.com/F72Xtoqmg9

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) May 9, 2020
Mr Shah said with the country fighting the coronavirus pandemic, that has affected nearly 40,000 people and killed more than 1,900, he did not pay attention to these rumours as he was busy performing his duties as the home minister. He said he was clarifying today because lakhs of BJP workers have expressed concern over the last two days.

The Home Minister, taking a jibe at those spreading rumours, said such speculation about his health will only make him stronger. "I request people to stop indulging in such talks and let me do my work, they should also go about their business," he added.

Amit Shah thanked well-wishers and workers of the BJP for enquiring about his health. He signed off by saying he has no hatred towards those who spread the rumours.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi, Jul 30: India's gold demand in 2020 is expected to fall to the lowest level in 26 years with domestic bullion prices hitting a record high and as falling disposable incomes could curtail retail purchases, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday.

Lower demand by the world's second-biggest bullion consumer could limit a rally in global prices, which hit a record high earlier this month, although it could also reduce India's trade deficit and support the ailing rupee.

"Fast rising gold prices could act as headwinds," said Somasundaram PR, the managing director of WGC's Indian operations.

Local gold futures have jumped 35% so far this year after rising a quarter in 2019.

India's gold consumption in the first half of 2020 plunged 56% on-year to 165.6 tonnes. Meanwhile, the coronavirus-triggered lockdown also slashed demand by 70% in the June quarter to 63.7 tonnes, the lowest in more than a decade, the WGC said in a report published on Thursday.

Millions of Indians have lost their jobs or taken a pay cut after the country imposed a lockdown on its 1.3 billion people to curb the spread of the virus that has infected more than 1.5 million Indians.

Consumption is generally high during the June quarter due to weddings and key festivals such as Akshaya Tritiya, but lockdown restrictions kept shoppers indoors this year.

The weak demand in the first half could drag down India's gold consumption in 2020 to the lowest since 1994, when demand stood at 415 tonnes, Somasundaram said, adding that it is still difficult to provide an estimate for full-year demand as the coronavirus crisis is still unfolding.

"Indian demand has previously jumped as much as 300 tonnes in a quarter. Latent demand could come out in the second half," Somasundaram said.

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