3 Review(s)

India and China the inheritors of two ancient civilizations and aeons of neighbourly bonds cemented by Buddhism and the bridge-building missions of Fa-Hien, Huen Tsang, Tagore and Kotnis never witnessed strife between themselves till the fateful autumn of 1962, when they fought a short but bitter border war on the desolate heights of the Himalayas. Mutual suspicion and sporadic face-offs have ever since bedevilled relations between the two Asian giants, based on their still-unsettled borders. What caused the tragic estrangement of Asias leading lights? In this cogent and comprehensive analysis, the author traces the origins of the discord to a legacy flawed by the flip-flops of imperial Britains unilateral border delineation, and the ebbs and flows of Chinese activism in Tibet. The gripping narrative carries us from the post-1947 scenario of initial Panchsheel bonhomie, yielding place to mutual distrust, aggravated, among other causes, by Chinese paranoia over Tibet and the unrelenting pressure of Indian public opinion. Indias cataclysmic defeat in the war, which remains a young nations humiliation, is attributed to the ill-advised forward policy and failure of the politico-military leadership of the time, revalidating Clemenceaus adage, that war is too important a matter to be left to generals. About the Author K.N. RAGHAVAN was born in Kochi, Kerala, and had his schooling there. Thereafter, he completed his MBBS from Calicut Medical College and went on to do post graduate studies in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Trivandrum Medical College. In 1989, he sat for the Civil Service exam and joined the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Excise). In the course of his career, he has been based at places as varied as Hosur, Coimbatore, Calicut, Kochi, Mumbai and Singapore, before taking up his present position as Additional Commissioner of Customs, Excise and Service Tax, in Kochi. Like most Indians, Raghavan is passionate about cricket. He is also an umpire accredited with BCCI and has umpired One Day International matches. He has authored the book, World Cup Chronicle. Raghavan lives in Kochi with his wife, Dr. Ranjini and they have one daughter, Aiswarya.