The Forward Policy, which had sought the raising of military outposts in areas claimed by Chinese and launching of aggressive patrols, increased the chances of conflict, the report has said, suggesting that India was not militarily in a position to implement this.
“This review is not concerned with the probability of conflict with or without the Forward Policy but with its introduction the chances of a conflict certainly increased. ... what is pertinent here is whether we were militarily in a position to implement this,” the report said.
Referring to various high-level meetings, one of which was attended by Nehru, the report says the Army Headquarters and the then Intelligence Bureau Director were of the view that China was unlikely to use force against Indian posts even if they were in a position to do so.
The army leadership had also overruled the concerns raised by the Western Command, which said it was ill-prepared to implement the policy and we would be “defeated in detail” in case of hostilities, the report said.
The Western Command's position was realistic, it said, but Army Headquarters apparently stuck to their belief that the Chinese would not resort to any large-scale hostilities, a presumption belied by its attack as its army ran through Arunachal Pradesh and captured large parts of Ladakh.
“The General Staff Branch Army Headquarters not taking note of this warning of Western Command could only be attributed to an incorrect assessment of Chinese reactions, together with a sense of complacency that nothing would happen,” it said.
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