Narayane’s India-China claims rock Parliament

Former army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane’s claims — in an unpublished book — on one of the most delicate moments during the India-China military standoff in eastern Ladakh that allegedly brought the rival armies to the brink of a shooting war in August 2020 triggered a political firestorm on Monday, with the Lok Sabha’s Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi attempting to refer to events detailed in the memoir in the Lower House and the government vehemently objecting to it because the book has not been published.

- Rahul Singh

Gandhi was referring to excerpts of the former chief's yet-to-be-released autobiography Four Stars of Destiny, published in The Caravan magazine on Sunday in an article, titled Naravane’s Moment of Truth. The strapline read: “An army chief's unpublished memoir exposes how the Modi government spun the China border crisis”.

Naravane's account of the developments that took place on the Kailash range on the southern side of Pangong Tso on August 31, 2020, and a purported lack of an immediate political directive on how the Indian Army should respond to the Chinese provocation lie at the centre of the controversy.

The book was supposed to be released in January 2024 but was blocked by the defence ministry as the author had not obtained the necessary clearances before writing about sensitive operational matters, especially when the standoff was still raging at the time.

Naravane did not respond to phone calls and text messages by HT. However, in October 2025, he said the book was still under review by the defence ministry.

The government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responded to Gandhi's attempt to raise the issue by referencing the 1962 war with China in which India ceded territory (and which was fought when the Congress was in charge), and by pointing to Naravane's categorical comments after the standoff that China had not occupied any Indian territory.

Gandhi's repeated efforts to raise the issue eventually saw the House being adjourned for the day. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla referred to two rules, 349 and 353, to disallow Gandhi from quoting from the book.