Standing at the Himalayan Crossroads

Abstract

On October 7, 1950, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) crossed the Upper Yangtze and invaded Tibet. Ten days later, Chamdo, the capital of Kham Province fell to the Communists. This event had serious implications for the Himalayan border between India and Tibet, lasting till today. In a letter to the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on November 7, 1950, Home Minister Sardar Patel listed some of the problems that require early solution and around which independent India needs to build administrative or military policies. With no response from Nehru (he had decided to safeguard “India’s friendship” with China at any cost) and news of movements of Chinese troops near the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA), Patel formed a Committee headed by Major General Himmatsinghji. The Deputy Minister of Defence was tasked “to examine possible Chinese communist troops occupying the areas in the disputed territory south of the McMahon Line and to consider the feasibility of advancing the outpost of the Assam Rifles in order to forestall such ingress”. It is this “North and North-East Border Defence Committee” which discussed the advisability of establishing a post in Tawang. The chapter traces the historical narration of Major “Bob” Khating and the Assam Rifles in their march towards the border with India’s new neighbour, China. Drawing from different sources, this chapter goes into the successive steps taken by the Assam Administration to bring the Tawang area under Indian administration.