The man who accompanied Shastri to Tashkent debunks 'The Tashkent Files'

Former ambassador Moni Chadha was with Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent. He counters colourful conspiracy theories with sobering facts

Surinder Mohan Singh Chadha, or Moni as he likes to be called, was a month short of 29 when he was sent packing on a special plane to Tashkent in January 1966. Now the capital of the sovereign state of Uzbekistan, Tashkent was then under Soviet control and in the days following Chadha’s arrival, witnessed events of historic magnitude. A treaty between Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pakistani president Ayub Khan was signed, effectively ending the India-Pakistan war of 1965. The same night, on January 11, 1966, Shastri died of a heart attack.

Fast forward to 2019, when