The then Indian government decided not to involve the Air Force in the 1962 war with China, resulting in a heavy price for India, said Union Minister of State Rajiv Chandrasekhar in a recent interview with News9 Plus. Reflecting on the war, Chandrasekhar expressed that India still feels the pain of its defeat in the conflict, attributing the failure to the incompetence of political leadership and the non-modernization of security forces.
Chandrasekhar alleged that the Indian Army was not modernized until 1962 after World War II, with soldiers being sent into battle untrained and ill-prepared to face a fully prepared enemy in the mountainous terrain.
While addressing whether the war was lost due to political failure, Chandrasekhar criticized Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, stating that while he may have been great in many ways, he made a mistake in dealing with China. According to Chandrasekhar, the political leadership’s misunderstanding of China harmed India in 1962.
The minister emphasized that today’s India is markedly different from the India of 1962, with strategic and military advancements that would prevent the recurrence of a similar defeat. Chandrasekhar highlighted that the India of today would not allow a repeat of the events of 1962, citing the failure to deploy the Air Force at the time as a significant mistake. He noted that the Indian Air Force was superior to China’s at that time and assured that such errors would not occur in present-day India.
Reflecting on the lasting impact of the war, Chandrasekhar asserted that China’s capture of 38,000 square kilometers of land in 1962 and the humiliation of India were unique events that would not happen in today’s India. He emphasized that the lack of Air Force involvement in 1962 was a major blunder, but such a situation would not arise in contemporary India.
The remarks by Union Minister Rajiv Chandrasekhar shed light on India’s acknowledgment of past mistakes in wartime strategy and emphasized the strides made to ensure a more secure and prepared nation in the face of potential threats.