India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was urged by his most senior general to agree to a ceasefire with Pakistan in 1948.
In 2019, when the Narendra Modi government formally revoked Kashmir's constitutional autonomy, the government justified its decision by suggesting Nehru had made a mistake, blaming him for not seeking to grab more territory from Pakistani forces.
The Guardian reported that it can reveal after viewing letters on Kashmir that have been kept classified in India for decades that Nehru was urged to agree to a ceasefire with Pakistan in 1948 by his most senior general.
The correspondence from the then commander-in-chief, Gen Sir Francis Robert Roy Bucher will have significant political ramifications for the current nationalist government in Delhi, which has discredited Nehru’s decision to come to a compromise on the status of disputed Kashmir as an ill-informed “blunder," The Guardian reported.
According to the British daily, a series of letters – which Modi’s administration has sought to keep classified – show Nehru was in fact acting on advice from his most trusted adviser in the army, who warned India would not be able to withstand continued military operation in Kashmir for long, and a political compromise was needed.
In his message to Nehru dated 28 November 1948, Bucher warned of fatigue among Indian troops in Kashmir, adding that an “overall military decision was no longer possible," the report said.
“Army personnel evince two weaknesses, lack of training in the junior leaders, tiredness and ennui in the other ranks … In brief, the army needs respite for leave, training, and vitalising.”
Nehru, in response, according to the British daily, raised concerns over reports that Pakistan intended within weeks to bomb Indian positions from the sky. Meanwhile, Pakistan was building roads to maintain and advance its positions, the report said.
In another letter to Bucher sent on 23 December 1948, Nehru wrote: “It is clear to me that we cannot rely on Pakistan remaining on the defensive.” He added: “In the event of Pakistan continuing their persistent shelling and offensive operation and our not being able to check this there, there is every likelihood of war taking place with Pakistan.”
In a later letter dated 28 December, Bucher made his position clear: “I am afraid we cannot take military action to stop every road-building operation by Pakistan. May I suggest a political approach to this problem.”
Home Minister Amit Shah, in 2019 said the decision to reach an UN-mediated compromise was Nehru’s “biggest mistake”, criticising it as a “Himalayan blunder”.
“What was the need to announce a ceasefire when we were about to win the war?” Shah said.
However, the Bucher papers, as they are known in India, suggest Nehru was acting on informed advice from his military officers.
Bucher, a British officer, was chosen by post-independence India to become commander-in-chief of the Indian army due to his familiarity with Indian military operations and his ability to bridge the gap between British and Indian military personnel. He served between 1948 and 1949 until his retirement and was the last non-Indian to hold the top military post, The Guardian report said.
The war ended on 1 January 1949 with a ceasefire arranged by the United Nations, and later that year Nehru provided special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, giving the region autonomy.
The Guardian, the daily reported, revealed last month that Modi’s government was seeking to prevent the declassification of some of the Bucher papers, describing them as “sensitive”.