Forward Policy of Nehru govt blamed for 1962 debacle

The "Forward Policy" of the government under late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the then army leadership has been blamed for India's humiliating defeat in 1962 war against China in a top secret report accessed an Australian journalist.
The Henderson Brooks report, which still remains officially classified, has found serious faults with the "Forward Policy" and the army for carrying it out without the necessary wherewithal, according to defence journal Indian Defence Review, which has put on its website some portions of the report first released by Journalist Neville Maxwell.
Maxwell, who had reported on the war extensively, had released some contents of the Henderson Brooks report on his website. There has been no official reaction to the disclosed contents.

The Henderson report has criticised the then government, military and intelligence agencies for basing their assumptions on the belief that the Chinese would not escalate hostilities whereas militarily they should have thought "exactly opposite".
The Forward Policy, which had sought the raising of military outposts in areas claimed by Chinese and launching of aggressive patrols, increased the chances of conflict, the report has said, suggesting that India was not militarily in a position to implement this.