Agnipath to Galwan Clash: Ex-Army Chief General Naravane’s Big Revelations in Memoirs Yet to Be Released

New Delhi: Former Chief of Army Staff, General M.M. Naravane, has made a series of revelations in his upcoming memoirs, including being handed a “hot potato” in dealing with Chinese troop movement in August 2020, and how the Agnipath tour of duty scheme caught the armed forces by surprise and was a “bolt out of the blue” for the Navy and the Air Force, among others.

General Naravane retired as the Chief of Army Staff on April 30, 2022 and has since completed his PhD in defence and strategic studies from Punjabi University, Patiala.

Four Stars of Destiny: An Autobiography by General Manoj Mukund Naravane. (Penguin, April 30, 2024)

Excerpts from General Naravane’s book titled Four Stars of Destiny were reviewed by the news agency PTI last month. It also put out five news stories based on the excerpts from the book. The book is scheduled to be released this month and has been open for pre-orders since last month.

Here are the main revelations from General Naravane’s book based on the published excerpts in PTI.

“Handed a hot potato on Ladakh”

In the excerpt of the book published in PTI, General Naravane writes about the night of August 31, 2020, following a tense situation arising out of Chinese PLA moving tanks and troops in Rechin La mountain pass on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

He writes how the armed forces were left to their own devices in the face of a massive security challenge in Ladakh, as defence minister Rajnath Singh told him, ‘Jo ucchit samjho woh karo’ (do whatever you deem appropriate).

He writes that a hundred different thoughts “flashed through” his mind after the call.

“I conveyed the criticality of the situation to the RM (Raksha Mantri), who said he would get back to me, which he did, by about 2230 hours,” he writes.

“He said that he had spoken to the PM and that it was purely a military decision. ‘Jo ucchit samjho woh karo’ (Do whatever you deem is appropriate).”

“I was handed a hot potato. With this carte blanche, the onus was now totally on me. I took a deep breath and sat silently for a few minutes. All was quiet save for the ticking of the wall clock.”

“Xi Jinping won’t forget June 16, 2020”

Naravane also writes about the Galwan Valley clash on June 16, 2020 when 20 Indian soldiers were killed, referring to it as “one the saddest days” of his career.

In the excerpts published by PTI, he also writes that the Chinese president Xi Jinping will not forget the night.

“June 16 is (Chinese President) Xi Jinping’s birthday. This is not a day he will forget any time soon. For the first time in over two decades, the Chinese and the PLA had suffered fatal casualties,” he wrote.

He also wrote that the “savagery” of the Chinese response showed that they had suffered losses.

“Our men who were in Chinese hands had been kept out in the open and they had seen several bodies being fished out of the river. Whenever that happened, they were subjected to a fresh round of beatings,” he wrote.

“The sheer savagery of their response was in itself indicative of the losses they had suffered. Initially, they did not admit to any casualties at all; then many months later, admitted to four or five killed, including the CO on their side.”

There is no mention in the excerpts released of the 10 Indian soldiers, including four officers, who were held captive for three days before being released by the Chinese army, as per some reports at the time.