Use of air force would have slowed Chinese offensive considerably in 1962: CDS Gen Chauhan

Gen Chauhan said in his speech, “I was requested to speak about forward policy and about not using the air force during the 1962 war. To comment on the adequacy or inadequacy of a forward policy at this time is slightly difficult. Our views will be colored due to many reasons like geography has changed entirely and so has geopolitics. The security situation has changed. Force levels have changed. The type of warfare itself has changed. All I can say is that the forward policy should not have been applied uniformly to Ladakh and NEFA. The two regions had very different histories of the dispute, different security context and entirely different terrain. In Ladakh, China had already occupied much of Indian territory, whereas in NEFA the legitimacy of India’s claim was stronger. To equate the two and pursue identical policies was, in my view, a bit flawed.”

The CDS added, “I think Gen Thorat had in his mind the use of the Air Force, which the government did not permit. They would have had a significant advantage during the 1962 conflict. Shorter turnaround times, a favorable geography and the ability to bring maximum payloads to bear with maximum weight on the enemy. Use of air power would have slowed the Chinese offensive considerably, if not stymied it completely. This would have given the army much more time to prepare. In those days, I think, the use of the Air Force was considered escalatory. This is I think no longer true, and Op Sindoor is an apt example of this. To conclude, From Reveille to Retreat is not simply an autobiography. It’s a reflection on leadership, strategy and service. It sheds light on the decisions of power, critiques them with honesty and draws lessons that largely remain relevant today.”

Release of the revised and expanded edition of ‘From Reveille to Retreat, the autobiography of late Lt Gen SPP Thorat’. (Second from left to right) Central Army Commander Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta; Southern Army Commander Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth; and military historian Shiv Kunal Verma. Usha and Yashwant Thorat, the daughter-in-law and son of late Lt Gen SPP Thorat stand on either side. Usha is noted economist and former deputy governor of RBI and Yashwant is former Chairman of NABARD. (Credit: Special Arrangement)

Lt Gen Shankarrao Pandurang Patil Thorat (1906–1992) was a distinguished commander of the Indian Army, known both for his combat leadership and strategic foresight. Gen Thorat was selected in 1924 as one of only five Indians to attend the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he graduated with an ‘Exemplary Character’ rating. He served his attachment with the 2nd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment before joining the 1/14th Punjab Regiment on the North-West Frontier.

As Eastern Army Command, Gen Thorat faced both the Naga insurgency and Chinese assertiveness in NEFA. He innovated counterinsurgency strategies by combining local military initiatives with community-based cooperation, anticipating modern civil-military doctrines. In 1959, Gen Thorat submitted a prescient report on Chinese military intentions and their likely invasion routes, later borne out in the 1962 war. He opposed Defence Minister Krishna Menon’s Forward Policy, warning it would lead to “certain defeat and death” for inadequately supplied Indian units on the frontier.