Security expert calls for revisiting reasons for 1962 war defeat at China's hands

Defence expert Uday Bhaskar on Tuesday said there was nothing new with what Australian journalist Maxwell has published in his blog about Sino-India war in 1962, as this information were already available in bits and pieces. Although, he added this has renewed the importance of revisiting the reasons behind that defeat more closely.

"1962 Henderson report is apparently out in the public domain on the personal blog of the author of the book Neville Maxwell. This report was not brought out in public domain by the government of India, although some excerpts has been available over the last 50 years. Basically, this report was commissioned by the government Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru soon after the 1962 war to try and make an objective assessment of the various inadequacies of the armed forces which was challenged. Both within the army which was challenged severely at that time and higher defence management," Bhaskar said.

Bhaskar, also called for a transparent discussion on army's 1962 debacle.

"Government of India has already initiated various steps of re-arranging of army assets and its capabilities following the war. Now, we are aware that following the defeat Nehru was a broken man and he died in a couple of years later in May of 1964. Ever since then, the successive governments have chosen not to put this into public domain for a variety of reasons. My own sense is that there is nothing new in it. However, Henderson report must now be discussed in a transparent manner, to understand the reasons behind the defeat, and in the light of India-China relations which is currently dealing with sorting out the border dispute," Bhaskar added.

A section of the confidential Henderson Brooks report that critically reviewed India's defence preparedness and strategies during the 1962 war with China has been released online by Australian journalist Neville Maxwell.