“Blaming Nehru won’t solve China problem for India,” former foreign secretary Nirupama Rao remarked.
This was stated by Rao during an appearance on Hindustan Times’ “On the Record with Sunetra Choudhury.”
The confrontation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, as well as the events of summer 2020, accelerated the book’s completion. My goal was to educate the next generation of Indians about the subtle and complicated character of the storyline. I also attempted to emphasise that, while many people blame (Jawaharlal) Nehru for everything that has gone wrong with China, it is not as if Nehru was unaware of the perils and risks that come with dealing with such a large neighbor.
When the Chinese invaded Tibet, one of our Lhasa-based officers, Sumul Sinha, famously declared, “The Chinese have conquered Tibet, and the Himalayas no longer exist.”
I believe Nehru was aware of the core difficulty to some extent… He was well aware of the difficulty. But, at the same time, I believe he was acutely aware of the importance of a peaceful atmosphere in which India might grow and solidify its ties with its neighbors. As a result, he believes that friendship, discussion, or some type of agreement with China is required.
He believed that by working together, these two major Asian countries could become the third force in world affairs, which would benefit India. As it turned out, he was mistaken about China in his projections. However, I attempted to make it clear throughout the novel that he was concerned about India’s border security. He was the one who made the decisions to bring our government closer to the Himalayan boundaries, increase connections, and expand infrastructure. As a result, blaming Nehru may not be the best solution.
