EVENTS

All are invited

Abstract        

Undoubtedly, 1962 was an unmitigated disaster for the Indian State and the Indian Arms. Even though the writing was on the wall since 1959, Indian political leadership and the Indian Army allowed themselves to be hustled into a war on those high Himalayas for which they were ill prepared – a kind of hurtling towards a point of no return. The war itself was a disaster for India.  It gave rise to certain myths like: “Chinese stabbed us in the back”, “They attacked suddenly” and so on. Such like myths were perpetrated all these years, till the Indian public began to believe in them.  Actually, the truth, right from the beginning, was quite different. The book which is based on painstaking research into the available material from both sides, especially the Chinese literature on the subject, is an attempt to put the events of that period in correct perspective which will help the future generations of Indians to understand and come to terms with the events of those times.  

About the Speaker

Major General PJS Sandhu was commissioned into the Armoured Corps on 15 June 1966. He retired after 37 years of service on 31st July 2003 as the Chief of Staff of a Strike Corps (strategic reserve).  During his Military service, he commanded an armoured regiment, an independent armoured brigade and an armoured division. He participated in the 1971 Indo-Pak war in the Shakargarh/Sialkot Sectors and also served as a deputy commander of an infantry brigade in high altitude in counter insurgency operations and on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. He has also served as Deputy Director General of Military Operations at the Army HQ, where he dealt with strategic issues.     

Presently, he is the Deputy Director and Editor of the United Service Institution (USI) of India since 01 May 2007. He participated in the Second Xiangshan Forum organised by the Academy of Military Sciences of the PLA in Beijing from 26-28 Oct 2008. He also led a four member USI delegation for bilateral discussions with the China Institute for International Strategic Studies (CIISS) in Beijing from 09-14 Sep 2013. His areas of interest include Strategy, Military History and International Relations. He has been studying China since 1987.