By Admin 
Chief Defense President (CDS) General Anil Chauhan said on Wednesday (24 September 2025) that the use of the Air Force during the 1962 Indo-China war would have reduced the Chinese invasion significantly. He said that this step could have been called ‘stress -enhancing’ then, but now it is not as it happened in ‘Operation Sindoor’.
Regarding the war with China 63 years ago, he said that advance policy should not have been implemented equally to Ladakh and NEFA (North-East Frontier Agency) or present Arunachal Pradesh. He said that this is because the history of the dispute between the two regions is different and the land is also completely different. Following similar policies was flawed. The CDS said that the security situation has changed in the last few years and the nature of war has also changed.
‘Thought to use the Air Force, but …’
General Chauhan made this comment in a recorded video message aired during the release of the revised autobiography of the late Lieutenant General SP Thorat in Pune. Lieutenant General Thorat was the ‘General Officer Commanding-in-Chief’ of the Eastern Command before the Indo-China War. The CDS said that Lieutenant General Thorat had thought of using the Indian Air Force, but the then government did not allow such a step.
‘India benefits a big benefit in the 1962 war’
On the use of the Air Force, the CDS said that during the 1962 war, it would have greatly benefited. The CDS said that the use of aerial power would have reduced the speed of Chinese invasion. He said, ‘This would have given a lot of time for the army to prepare. In those days, I think the use of Air Force was considered stress enhancing. I think this is not true now, and Operation Sindoor is an accurate example of this.