Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Friday (February 13, 2026) said that independent India was keen on building a good relationship with China. He said that after Independence, it was for India to decide where the frontiers lay.
“[Jawaharlal] Nehru probably knew that we had something like the McMahon Line in the east, and we had some kind of claim in the Ladakh area, but it was not clearly defined. That is why he wanted to go in for the Panchsheel Agreement... probably,” General Chauhan said.
“And the Chinese also, when they had so-called liberated Tibet and had moved into Lhasa and into Xinjiang, this particular area was extreme from both ends. So, they probably wanted stability in this region and that is why this area assumed priority,” the CDS added.
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General Chauhan said that once Tibet was occupied by China, “India gave up those privileges”. “India recognised China and supported its permanent seat in the United Nations. The Himalayan buffer that existed between us and Tibet evaporated and was converted into a direct border,” he said.
