Between history and propaganda

Book review of SIKKIM: A History of Intrigue and Alliance

According to A P Venkateswaran, the foreign secretary whom Rajiv Gandhi treated so shabbily, Sumal Sinha, India’s consul-general in Lhasa and a gifted Chinese scholar, messaged New Delhi in 1950, “The Chinese have entered Tibet. The Himalayas have ceased to exist.”

That is also the burden of Preet Mohan Singh Malik’s passionate testament. Although he doesn’t mention Venkateswaran, he holds, like him, that the deceitful Chinese took a trusting Jawaharlal Nehru for a ride. Nehru readily closed down consulates and trade offices in Tibet and surrendered a host of extraterritorial privileges without seeking anything in return. Mr Malik believes that Vallabhbhai