Nehru’s Folly and the ‘Loss’ of Tibet continues...

However, the events on India’s northern-most border had actually started a chain of events that culminated in an important development, India’s so-called ‘Forward Policy’. This came about not as a result of China’s take-over of Tibet, as is commonly believed, but as a result of Communist China’s takeover of Sinkiang on September 25, 1949, when the Nationalist Chinese troops stationed there overnight changed their allegiance to Communist China.

With the fall of Xinjiang to the Communists, Ladakh’s northern border had become contiguous to Communist China. An IB post was opened at Leh, and the first joint IB-Army checkpost was set up at Panamik/Shyok to cover the route from the Karakoram Pass to Leh. In 1950 the IB sent a proposal for the establishment of checkposts to guard the passes on the Indo-Tibetan frontier, from Ladakh in the north-west to Lohit Frontier Division in the north-east. The Chinese PLA took over all of Kham in October 1950, as we have seen.

A small committee of military experts was appointed, including a representative of the IB in Shillong, to assess the dangers in NEFA and to suggest the places near the frontiers at which Assam Rifles units should be posted.

To be continued....