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Nehru'sAksaiChinBlunder
Lastupdatedon:February03,201711:41IST

'Delhiwasnotconcerned.'
'Itwouldcontinuesleepingforseveralmoreyears,withtheresultthatIndianterritoryisstilloccupiedbyChinatoday,'says
ClaudeArpi.

IMAGE:AsketchofPrimeMinisterJawaharlalNehruagainstthebackdropofChina'scapriciousleader
MaoZedongwhoorderhistroopstoinvadeIndiainOctober1962.

O neoftheNehrugovernment'sbiggesthistoricalblundershasbeentheAksaiChinroadbuiltbyChinaonIndiansoilwithout
Delhinoticingit.

AmongtheseverallakhsofrecentlyreleasedhistoricaldocumentsbytheCentralIntelligenceAgency,acoupleofInformation
Reportsdatingfrom1953shedsomelightontheissue.

Letuslookatsomefacts.

OnOctober6,1957,aChinesenewspaper,KuangmingJihpaoreported:'TheSinkiangTibetthehighesthighwayintheworld
hasbeencompleted.'

'During the past few days, a number of trucks running on the highway on a trial basis have arrived in Kotak'e in Tibet from
YechenginSinkiang(Xinjiang),'thenewspaperreporter.

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'TheSinkiangTibetHighway...is1,179kmlong,ofwhich915kmaremorethan4,000metresabovesealevel130kmofitover
5,000metresabovesealevel,withthehighestpointbeing5,500meters.'

Thereporterspokeof:'Thirtyheavydutytrucks,fullyloadedwithroadbuilders,maintenanceequipmentandfuels,runningonthe
highwayonatrialbasis'headingtowardsTibet.

TheAksaiChinroadwasopened.

Itshouldhavebeenobvious,evenfortheblindIntelligenceBureauDirectorBNMullickandothersinDelhithattheChinesehad
builtaroadonIndiansoil.
Still,ittooknearlytwomoreyearsforthenewstobecomepublicinIndia.

TheherowhopreventedtheChinesefrominvadingAssam

E arlyin1958,fivemonthsafterthe'official'opening,SubimalDutt,thenIndia'sforeignsecretary,wrotetothenprimeminister
JawaharlalNehru:'Thereseemedlittledoubtthatthenewlyconstructed1,200kilometreroadconnectingGartokinWesternTibet
withYeh(Yecheng)inSinkiangpassesthroughAksaiChin.'

Duttsuggestedsendingareconnoiteringparty'inthecomingspring'tofindoutiftheroadhadreallybeenbuiltonIndianterritory.

Thenextday,Nehruagreedtothereconnoiteringparty,butadded:'Idonotthinkitisdesirabletohaveairreconnaissance.In
fact,Idonotseewhatgoodthiscandous.Evenalandreconnaissancewillnotperhapsbeveryhelpful.'

Theprimeministerthensuggested:'OurmapsshouldbesenttotheChinese...ButIthinkitwouldbebettertodothisrather
informally.'

Indianterritoryhadbeenoccupied,buttheprimeministerwantedtoremaininformalaboutit.

E ventually,thereconnoiteringpartywentandwhilesomejawanswerecaptured,severalotherswerekilled.

OnOctober18,1958,theIndianforeignsecretaryhandedoveran'informalnote'totheChineseambassadorinDelhi.

'The attention of the Government of India has recently been drawn to the fact that a motor road has been constructed by the
governmentofthePeople'sRepublicofChinaacrosstheeasternpartoftheLadakhregionoftheJammuKashmirstates,which
ispartofIndia.'

Whiledetailingtherouteoftheroad,DuttremindedChinaaboutIndia's'oldestablishedfrontiers.'

Theforeignsecretary'sconclusionwas:'ItismatterofsurpriseandregretsthattheChinesegovernmentshouldhaveconstructed
aroadthroughindisputablyIndianterritorywithoutfirstobtainingthepermissionoftheGovernmentofIndiaandwithouteven
informingtheGovernmentofIndia.'

Indeed,itwasregrettable.

Delhiwas'furious'theChineseworkerswhoconstructedtheroaddidnothaveaproperpassportandvisa.

'NoapplicationsforvisasfromChinesepersonnelworkingontheroadorfromChinesetravellerstraversingthisroadhaveever
been received by the Government of India,' says the note which continues in a surreal tone, 'as the Chinese government is
aware,theGovernmentofIndiaisanxioustosettlethesepettyfrontierdisputessothatthefriendlyrelationsbetweenthetwo
countriesmaynotsuffer.'

T ill today, the 'petty' dispute continues to spoil

SinoIndianrelations.

Butthatisnotall.

Ayearlater,NehruhidthetruthinParliament.

The issue first came up on April 22, 1959 during a

discussion on Chinese maps displaying Indian
territoryasChina's.

AnMP,BrajRajSinghqueried:'MayIknowwhether
government'sattentionhasbeendrawntothenews
item published in several papers alleging that the
Chinesehaveclaimedsome30,000squaremilesof
our territory and they have also disputed the
McMahonLine?'

ThiswasclearlyrelatedtoAksaiChinaswellasthe
easternsector.

Nehru's answer: 'I would suggest to the honourable

members not to pay much attention to news items
emanating sometimes from Hong Kong and
sometimesfromotheroddplaces.Wehavehadnosuchclaimdirectlyorindirectlymadeonus.'

Theprimeministerdeliberately'omitted'tomentionAksaiChin.

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ItwasonlyinAugust1959thatNehrudroppedthebombshellinParliament:The'TibetSinkianghighway'hadbeenbuiltthrough
Indianterritory.

TheCIA'stakeontheissue

A recentlyreleasedCIAnotedatedJuly15,1953,dealswith'ChineseCommunistTroops,WestTibet'and'RoadConstruction,
SinkiangtoTibetandLadakh.'

Itsaysthatlate1952the2CavalryRegiment,commandedbyHanTsemin,haditsheadquartersatGartok(themaintradecentre
inWesternTibet).

Wearetoldtheregimenthas800camelsand150mengarrisonedatRutok(writtenRudogintheUSdocument),inthevicinityof
thePanggonglake,sharedwithLadakh.

ThesamereportaffirmsthatanotherPLAregimentisstationedontheTibetansideoftheTibetLadakhborder,nearKoyulinthe
IndusValleyinLadakh.

AccordingtotheUSdocument,the2Cavalry'scommandantannouncedtheChineseintentiontobuiltnewroadsinthearea.

AroadfromRutoktoKeriya,southoftheTaklamakandesertinXinjiang(theconstructionis'contemplated'saysthe
report)ontheeasternedgeoftheAksaiChin.
AmotorableroadfromKhotantoSugetKaraulendingatVanjilga(atthewesternendofAksaiChin.
AroadfromKhotan(orHotan)toRutoktobecompletedinJuneorJuly1953(accordingtoUrumchiradio,itwasalready
completed,saystheCIA.

ThelatterroadisclearlytheAksaiChinroad(nowHighway219),thoughthealignmentmayhavebeenslightlydifferentfromthe
presentoneanditwasprobablynotusablebyheavyvehicles(onlyfouryearslater,heavytruckswouldbeabletoplyonthe
road).

ItisdifficulttobelievethattheinformationavailablewiththeUSintelligenceagencywasnotknowntoitsIndiancounterpart.

T heHindiChinibhaibhaiwave(orwasitatsunami?)wasmostlikelytoostrong.

Further, Nehru's collaborators (Mullick in particular) probably did not know where India's frontier lay. Were they interested to
know?

TheChineselocalcommander,HanTsemin,assertedthat'whentheseroadswerecompleted,theChineseCommunistswould
closetheTibetLadakhbordertotrade.'

ItiswhattheydidayearlatersoonafterthesignatureoftheinfamousPanchsheelAgreement.

Evenbetter,theCIAdocumentsaysthatHandeclaredthat'theChineseCommunistsinSinkiangweretellingthepeoplethat
LadakhbelongstoSinkiang.'

Tendayslater,anotherCIAnotedetailedthetradebetweenLadakhandXinjiang,givingthecoordinatesforeachplace.

'TheTibetantraderswhovisitLeharefromtheChangTangarea,anaridplateauregioninnorthernTibet(theplainbetween
XinjiangandTibet),boundedonthenorthbytheKunlunmountainsandonthesouthbyTransHimalayanmountains.These
tradersfollowtheChushul(inLadakh)routefromTibettoLeh.BordercheckpostsonthisrouteareatChushulandKoyul.'
'TheTibetantraderscarrytea,incenseandveilsforsaleinLeh,'theCIAnotecontinues,'ontheirreturntheycarrydriedfruit,
soap,cigarettesandsugar.'

'TradersfromLehcarrywheatflour,barleyandeggstoTibet,andreturnwithwoolandsilvercoins.'
Thisshowshowflourishingthetradewasin1953foracoupleofyearsmore.

AllthisendedoncetheAksaiChinbecamefullyoperational.
TheJuly24CIAnoteprovidesdetailsofthetraditionalroutesusedbythecaravanersonerunsfromKhotantoSugatKarauland
ShahidullaMazarandthentoKargilikandKashgaranotheronegoesthroughtheKarakorampassandtheDepsangPlain.
TheCIAremarks:'TheonlyChineseinnorthwesternTibetaretheChineseCommunisttroops,sevenoreighthundredofwhom
arestationedalongtheTibetLadakhborder.TheyfirstappearedinnorthwesternTibetin1951,havingcomefromtheKhotan.'

Inthespringof1953,noconstructionofairfieldscouldbespottednearRutok'althoughtheterraininthatareaissuitableforsuch
construction,'buttherewasalreadyamilitaryradiostation,'asineverymilitarydistrictinXinjiang.'

There is 'general discontent among the Tibetans as a result of the Chinese Communist occupation,' the note added. 'The
Chinesewereincompletecontroloftradeandbusiness.'

Delhiwasnotconcerned.
Itwouldcontinuesleepingforseveralmoreyears,withtheresultthatIndianterritoryisstilloccupiedbyChinatoday.

TheCIApaperstendtoprovethattheGovernmentofIndiaknewabouttheAksaiChinroadmuchearlierthanthought.

ClaudeArpi

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