Delhi’s Nehru Museum to showcase letters, microfilms on 1962 India-China war

The Nehru Memorial Museum & Library will put on display the letters written by the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru to his Chinese counterpart in 1962.

Delhiites will soon get the opportunity to take a close look at the events and actions leading to the war between India and China in 1962 even as both the countries are engaged in a border standoff at Doklam in Sikkim.

Children walk past a photograph of Jawaharlal Nehru at the Nehru Memorial Museum in Delhi.(Abhishek Saha/HT File Photo)

From November this year, the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML) is for the first time going to put on display the letters written by the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to his Chinese counterpart in 1962 when both the nations were engaged in month-long high-altitude war in the Ladakh region in the Himalayas.

Visitors would be able to go through the content of the correspondence between the two warring countries, and know what transpired before, during, and after the war ended.

“We will also use audiovisual means such as micro films and documentaries with the idea to let the world know that the conflict with China was a major betrayal of faith by China,” said a source in the library on the condition of anonymity.

These would let the world know how China played truant and illegally invaded Indian territory in the Ladakh region across the McMohan Line on October 20, 1962, after a series of negotiations failed, the source added.

Special showcasing of the India-China war is scheduled to be held on the first floor in room No 17 under the title ‘International Relations, 1947-62’. The topics that will be covered include Asian Relations Conference, Bandung to Belgrade, Panscheel, and China War.

The overhaul and expansion plan of the museum involves the use of modern technological means of exhibitions such as audio-video slides, touch-screen panels, and 3/4Dimension display techniques to showcase the life of India’s first prime minister starting from his birth till his death.

As per the new design for the museum suggested by MJ Akbar, the vice-chairperson of the executive council of the NMML and minister of state for external affairs, the total number of rooms available for the exhibition is 23 - five on the ground floor and 18 on the first floor.

The plan has been made public and uploaded on the official website of the museum.