The Two Lalls

John Lall has written two books and had them bound together in one volume. Of the six long chapters the last one of about sixty pages stands by itself. It is a clear account of relations between free India and People’s China from the start till the large-scale aggression of China in 1962, written by one who, first as dewan of Sikkim and then as a senior official in the defence ministry, had an insider’s view. With a trained, sensitive and well-equipp¬ed mind, Lall writes with feeling of the errors committed at various levels on the Indian side during these years, making certain the slide to national humiliation. He tells us that Panikkar’s ‘mistake’ in speaking of Chinese sovereignty rather than suzerainty of Tibet was deliberate. He draws attention to India’s supply of rice to Chinese troops in Tibet in 1951 without even trying to secure anything in return. In Lall’s story Panikkar is the villain in the early years, and his place is taken later by Krishna Menon. Lall adds from his first-hand knowledge to the already long catalogue of testimony to Menon’s mismanagement of the country’s defences.