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Blunder-2. THE HIMALAYAN BLUNDER

2.         THE HIMALAYAN BLUNDER              No, with apology to Brig. J. P. Dalvi, I am not talking about his book by the same name, which kicked up a considerable controversy about the most crushing military defeat that modern India ever faced in 1962. In fact, the genesis of this debacle can be found in the erratic appreciation of India’s defence needs by the first government of free India under the premiership of Shri Jawahar Lal Nehru.         An ambiguity and confusion overtook my mind, as I delved deep in this subject. Was it a blunder or simply a failure? Protracted thinking led me to the argument that had we lost the war to China despite our war-preparedness and diplomatic efforts, we could call it a ‘failure’, because, after all one side was bound to loose and definitely the weaker one. But we were not prepared for war, we failed to appreciate the new world order that was emergi...