Rajnath Singh approves declassification of war histories after 25 yrs

Orders war histories to be compiled within five years

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a new policy on the archiving, declassification and publication of war/operations histories, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on Saturday.

The policy requires MoD organisations, such as the army, navy, air force, coast guard, Integrated Defence Staff and Assam Rifles, to transfer their records -- including war diaries, letters of proceedings and operational record books – to the ministry’s History Division for proper upkeep, archival and recording of history.

“The requirement of… clear cut policy on declassification of war records was recommended by the Kargil Review Committee headed by K Subrahmanyam as well as