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Indian Express
a day ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Amit Shah claims Nehru bid ‘bye bye to Assam' during 1962 war: What former PM said, in what context
Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday (July 29) accused former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of bidding goodbye to Assam during the 1962 war. Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the Operation Sindoor debate, Shah addressed Assam Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, saying, 'Gogoiji has been saying a lot of things…do you know what he [Nehru] did to Assam? He waved bye bye to Assam on Akashvani…There is a recording of this.' This is not the first time the BJP has used Nehru's 1962 radio address to claim that Nehru had virtually surrendered Assam to China during the war. Last year, at an election rally in Lakhimpur, Shah had said, 'During the Chinese aggression of 1962, Nehru had said 'bye-bye' to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. People of these states can never forget that.' In March 2024, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had written in The Indian Express, 'When Jawaharlal Nehru, as a Prime Minister abandoned Assam amidst the 1962 Indo-China war while claiming his heart went out to the people of Assam, Prime Minister Modi repeatedly called the region Ashtalakshmi and Bharat's growth engine.' What exactly did Nehru say in the radio address, and did he bid 'bye bye' to Assam? What did he say about the 1962 war in Parliament? What was his remark about not a blade of grass growing in Aksai Chin? We explain. The 1962 war lasted for barely a month, from October 20 to November 21. China invaded India from two sides, in the west around the Ladakh region and in the east in the Northeast Frontier Agency (today's Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Assam). On both fronts, its victories were swift and decisive. It managed to capture the strategically crucial Tawang (in the present Arunachal Pradesh), and advanced further. It was in this context that Nehru addressed the nation on November 19, 1962, in Hindi. The 'heart goes out to Assam' line goes thus, 'Is waqt kuch Assam ke upar, Assam ke darwaaze par, dushman hai, aur Assam khatre mein hai. Isliye khas taur se hamara dil jata hai hamare bhai air bahinon par, jo Assam mein rehtein hain, unki hamdardi mein, kyunki unkon taqleef uthani pad rahi hai…Hum unki poori madad karne ki koshish karenge aur karenge, lekin kitni bhi hum madad karein, hum unko taqleef se nahin bacha lenge is waqt. Haan, ek baat ka hum pakka irdada rakhtein hain…hum is baat ko aakhiri dum tak chaleyenge jab tak Assam aur sara Hindustan bilkul dushman se khaali na ho jaaye,' [Selected works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Volume 79]. The translation from the Selected Works, of a larger section of the speech, is, 'Huge Chinese armies have been marching in the northern part of the North East Frontier Agency and we have suffered reverses at Walong, on the Sela Ridge and today Bomdila — a small town in NEFA has also fallen. In the North also in Ladakh, in the Chushul area, the Chinese have been attacking fiercely, though they have been held. Now what has happened is very serious and very saddening to us and I can well understand what our friends in Assam must be feeling because all this is happening on their doorstep, one might say. I want to tell them that we feel very much for them and that we shall help them to the utmost of our ability. We may not be able always to succeed in what we are trying now because of various factors and of the overwhelming numbers of the Chinese forces, but I want to take a pledge to them, here and now, that we shall see this matter to the end and the end will have to be victory for India.' Thus, the speech asserts that the government would drive the enemy out of Assam, and when the PM spoke of his heart going out, he was acknowledging the troubles the people of Assam would have to suffer. Aditya Mukherjee, retired Professor of Contemporary History and Director, Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Study, JNU, told The Indian Express, 'To read Nehru's 1962 AIR speech as 'bidding goodbye to Assam' does not stand scrutiny. While it is a stretch to read 'my heart goes out' as abandoning Assam, the rest of the speech makes it clear that Nehru was determined to fight for every inch of Indian land. The speech does not show any intention of surrendering, instead, it shows a resolve to keep fighting a difficult fight.' Nehru's comments on the war on other occasions Nehru spoke about the 1962 war multiple times in Parliament, giving information and answering the Opposition's questions even when the fighting was on. The speeches have the common theme of not surrendering to the enemy. For example, in Parliament on November 19, 1962, after giving details of the defeats suffered by the Indian Army, Nehru said, 'I should like to add that in spite of the reverses suffered by us, we are determined not to give in in any way and we shall fight the enemy, however long it may take to repel him and drive him out of our country.' Amit Shah Tuesday also said that Nehru gave 'non-serious' replies in Parliament, citing as example his comment about not a blade of grass growing in Aksai Chin. Nehru's Aksai Chin remark was made in August 1959, before the India China war, and he had clarified it in Parliament. Here's that exchange [(Jawaharlal Nehru: Selected Speeches, Volume 4]. Speaking about Chinese incursions into Ladakh, Nehru said in Lok Sabha, 'When we discovered in 1958, more than a year ago, that a road had been built across Yehcheng in the north-east corner of Ladakh, we were worried. We did not know where it was. Hon. Members asked why we did not know before. It is a relevant question, but the fact is that it is an uninhabitable area, 17.000 feet high. It had not been under any kind of administration. Nobody has been present there. It is a territory where not even a blade of grass grows. It adjoins Sinkiang.' Jaswant Singh later said, 'The Prime Minister stated a little while ago that this portion of Ladakh is absolutely desolate and unfertile and that not even a blade of grass grows there. Even then, China is attaching importance to the area and is building a road there. I would like to know, when China is attaching so much of importance to this desolate bit of land, why, when the territory is ours or is under dispute even, do we not attach any importance to it?' Nehru then replied, 'I talked only about the Yehcheng area, not about the whole of Ladakh… Presumably the Chinese attach importance to this area because of the fact that the route connects part of Chinese Turkestan with Gartok-Yehcheng.'
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Modi best person to resolve border issue: Retired Indian diplomat M K Bhadrakumar
M K Bhadrakumar is a distinguished retired Indian diplomat and an influential geopolitical commentator. With a 30-year career in the Indian Foreign Service, Bhadrakumar held strategic postings that shaped India's foreign policy across pivotal regions—from Moscow to Kabul and Islamabad to Ankara. Bhadrakumar brings a rare blend of diplomatic insight and sharp analytical commentary to his expressions. He shares with TNIE his thoughts on the US deep state, Operation Sindoor, Iran-Israel conflict, and why he thinks only PM Narendra Modi can settle the Indo-China issue. Excerpts India has taken a multi-alignment position as far as foreign strategy is concerned. Your assessment… Multi-alignment goes beyond non-alignment. It is actually constructive engagement with even those you disagree with. External Affairs Minister Jaishankar ought to be complimented for this. He took it forward when everyone was talking about multipolarity which implies several power centres in the world order. The Modi government has succeeded in boosting our international prestige, where our voice is accorded due respect. BRICS is a telling example of multi-alignment for India. How can India make use of the changing world order? Good politics is about creating wealth. After the Cold War, there was a myth of a unipolar world, with American triumphalism over the destruction of the Soviet Union. Back then, American thinkers projected the 21st century as an American century. But Professor Kennedy termed it the last phase of American dominance. From the 90s, China's rise was apparent. In 1995, with Boris Yeltsin realising Russia wouldn't be part of the western block, he decided to normalise relations with China, proposing the same to India. But we weren't ready for it because of the old narrative inherited from 1962. Is it just a narrative? We don't have a border dispute with China. The dispute is actually about creating a border where none existed. Such narratives are very much part of a country's psyche. Americans, even today, find it extremely difficult to accept the reality that theirs is not the prescriptive approach to the world or that they cannot dictate terms to the world. That era is over and they don't have the capacity to enforce it. The world-order is shifting with China's rise. And India cannot be invaded as it's a significant military power. It's a nuclear power and its economy is galloping. How can India then be browbeaten? It is impossible. That's the geo-political reality.
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
India, China marking a beginning, sense of caution would have to be built in: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
India and China are beginning to move towards more access and interactions that might help the economy, even as a sense of caution would have to be built in, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. She also underlined that maintaining growth is India's top priority along with the need to be a dynamic player in global institutions and redefining its role in the global South, and having a friendly and attractive FDI policy to be able to get more and more investments. When asked about the thaw in Indo-China relations at the launch of the book A World in Flux: India's Economic Priorities with the recent relaxation of visa norms, Sitharaman said not just India but China has also shown interest in these interactions and one will have to 'wait and see' how far it will go. Citing the restrictions earlier enlisted in Press Note 3 that had put curbs on investments from China, which also affected some of the projects including those in the renewable energy sector, Sitharaman said there was lull during the tariff war between the US and China. But, now it has been felt by both India and China for the 'need to have more access and a lot more interactions that could possibly open some windows'. 'And that's not just from our side, even the Chinese have been approaching through the MEA. So, you had External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar go. There is something, some kind of a beginning, as to how much it will take us far; how far it will go is something we will have to wait and see. But it might help the economy; however much, a sense of caution would have to be built in,' she said. Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar travelled to China where he had underlined that 'differences should not become disputes' nor should 'competition ever become conflict' and that while India and China have made good progress in the past nine months towards the normalisation of bilateral relations, they should work to address de-escalation on the border. India had earlier put restrictions on investments from China through Press Note 3 in April 2020 to curb potential opportunistic takeovers of Indian companies during the Covid-19 pandemic by making a government approval mandatory for all investments from countries sharing a land border with India, including China. It continued to be in force in the wake of national security concerns due to border tensions after the Galwan clash. Enlisting India's priorities, Sitharaman said growth is the topmost priority. 'Growth is the topmost priority, and therefore, it will have an overlap with: do you create jobs, do you have that value addition,' she said. The Indian economy grew by 6.5 per cent in FY25, the slowest in four years as against 9.2 per cent growth in FY24. For the current financial year 2025-26, the Economic Survey has projected GDP growth at 6.3-6.8 per cent, while the RBI has lowered its growth forecast to 6.5 per cent from an earlier level of 6.7 per cent for FY26. The second objective for India would be to be relevant on the global stage, she said. 'Not just to be there in the leadership position but to be able to define how this move is going to take India forward along with the rest of the countries. We need to define the global institutions which are going to govern us for the next hundred years,' she said. Within India, Sitharaman said the government will have to focus on whether it is giving the economy the necessary support and attending to every aspiring section's aspirations, not just by giving money but by giving an overall ecosystem through which they can aspire to grow. Finding resources for meeting domestic economic aspirations within fiscal constraints is another priority for the government, she said. Another priority would be to make sure that the FDI policy is friendly and attractive to be able to get more and more investments happening in India. On the issue of trade pacts, Sitharaman said agreements are taking priority over multilateral trade even though she can't comment if it's good or bad as of now. 'On the bilateral trade front, we are moving forward and we have seen bilateral agreements being signed in the last four to five years with Australia, UAE, EFTA and the UK. Negotiations are progressing well with the United States as well as the European Union,' she said.
New Indian Express
22-07-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Of ties, old and new
The book starts with how Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru drew a direct connection between the Indian freedom struggle and the Palestinian cause; independent India's foreign policy in the formative years was also based on this connection. In the next four decades, this relationship started changing—a notable example, according to the author, was the Indo-China war, when Nehru wrote to the first Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion and sought help. The author claimed that Nehru took the decision of buying arms from Israel, but later stopped the purchase as it made Gamal Abdel Nasser, the President of Egypt, and Nehru's close partner in the Non-Aligned Movement 'unhappy'. The Modi era The author also traces an ideological connection between Hindutva and Zionism. In 2015, a year after the BJP government came to power, India abstained from voting against Israel at the UN Human Rights Council. Essa also writes about Savarkar's conception of the Hindu Rashtra being similar to the idea of the Jewish state. Modi, in fact, carries forward Atal Bihari Vajpayee's legacy in this regard. 'It was under Vajpayee's government that Delhi first hosted an Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon in 2003. So, Vajpayee was involved in taking the relationship with Israel forward. When Modi came to power in 2014, he wanted to build a Hindu state, in which Hindus would have more privileges than others. And Israel had already built that state, a so-called Jewish democratic state in which Jews had more rights than Palestinians, be they Muslims or Christians. Modi also sees Israel as a strong militaristic state, with an outsized influence over the world, and Modi wants to replicate that, too,' Essa tells TMS.
Time of India
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Salman Khan talks candidly about 'Battle of Galwan'; admits he is 'not feeling it'
Salman Khan opens up about his state of mind as he talks about prep for his upcoming war drama, 'Battle of Galwan.' Salman Khan recently announced his next movie, 'Battle of Galwan,' which is based on the Galwan Valley face-off between India and China in 2020. And now, the superstar opened up about his preparation for the film and shared his feelings. The actor stated that things are going a bit "slow". In an interaction with India Today, Salman Khan shared that he is "not feeling it yet." However, the actor went on to add that he would surely "feel the cold water" while shooting for the film. He added, "I would definitely feel it, since shooting in Ladakh". The film is currently being shot in Ladakh. To get into the skin of the character, the actor is going all out with respect to physical prep. As per the reports, he has quit drinking alcohol and having junk food. Not just that, Salman now has fewer carbs in his disciplined diet. Along with that, weight training and cardio are also part of his training routine. The actor will be playing the role of Colonel B. Santosh Babu, who was leading the Indian soldiers during the Indo-China Galwan Valley clash. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Buy Resmed AirSense 11 with flat 20% off ResMed Buy Now Undo Earlier, in an interview with PTI, the actor stated that the character is physically demanding. He shared that with age, training for such a role "gets more difficult." He further added that earlier he used to train just for one or two weeks. He went on to say that shooting Ladakh, in high altitude and cold water, is quite a challenging task. Well, it goes without saying that Salman Khan is putting in all his efforts for one of the greatest roles of his career. And his fans are eagerly waiting for him to show why he is still the superstar of all time.
