1965 War: The Inside Story

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1965 War was the first all-out clash between the two nationsIndia and Pakistan, after the Partition in 1947. Y.B. Chavan, Indias former Defence Minister, recorded in his own hand the 22-day war. The inside story reveals: Utter failure of intelligence on timing of Pak attack. How and why Chavan ordered IAF to launch attack without even informing the PM. Why India attacked across the international border? Reasons as per Chavan recording, If we failand I cannot even imagine of itthe Nation fails. How a Division Commander bolted from the theatre of operation. How the Army Commander sacrificed over 300 men for the Greater Glory of his Regiment. Why the Indian Army did not march into Lahore. Occasions when the Army Chief almost lost his nerve. How the Defence Minister, the Army and Air chiefs worked as team. How PM kept his cool and emerged as a great leader in War. Was it a Futile War? Did India lose in Tashkent what was won on battle-fields. Finally, how the political leadership re-established its proper relationship with the defence forces leadership and wiped out bitter memories of the 1962 India-China War. The book is a tribute to the IAF that was deployed in war for the first time after the Independence. Also to Indias armoured Regiments that fought valiantly and destroyed myth of superiority of the Pattons.

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R.D. Pradhan joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in the erstwhile Bombay State in 1952. In 1960 he joined Y.B. Chavan, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra as his Private Secretary. In 1965 he joined the Ministry of Commerce and handled several landmark negotiations. In 1967 he was appointed as Indias Representative in Geneva to UNCTAD and GATT and later joined the UN. In 1982 he was appointed the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra and in 1985 the Union Home Secretary. In 1987 he became the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh and also acted as Governor of Bihar. He was awarded Padma Bhushan for distinguished Public Service in negotiating peace accords for the Punjab, Assam and Mizoram. As an author he has to his credit books like Working with Rajiv Gandhi and Debacle to RevivalOn Y.B. Chavans Tenure as the Defence Minister. He has written several books in Marathi as well. Currently settled down in Mumbai, he is Vice-chairman of the Nehru Center and a Trustee of the Y.B. Chavan Foundation.