The flawed Forward Policy would have been a different story altogether had air power been used. The Chinese withdrew from Bomdila because of a lack of logistic support for their forces. They appear to have overcome this now, building logistic support in three directions featuring roads, rail links and airports. It will be a pity if India has not learnt any lessons from that war.
V.V. Nair,Manipal
This is 2014, when India and China realise that the armed forces of their countries are politically reliable and militarily adequate. An intelligent election campaign to which the people of this country would enthusiastically respond could be on the following lines — forget 1962. India and China should get rid of the existing misgivings in their relations and seek significant knowledge about each other. China is the strongest regional power and the second largest economic power in the world. India should be happy with its second strongest regional power status. We have made China realise that Arunachal Pradesh will be no easy picking, like Macau or Hong Kong. Lastly, a useful lesson learnt from the 1962 war which could benefit the new government taking over in less than two months’ time — war is a serious matter and best left to the generals who know and are, in fact, trained in the rules of the game.
C.V. Venugopalan,Palakkad
