China Army Connection With India

War is a dirty business, but it is something that affects all nations and people. The Second World War was one such war and it affected a lot of people. The power equations were also different. How many know that the Chinese army was trained in India by the Americans ?

It is a fact that nearly 40,000 Chinese soldiers were trained at the Regimental Training Center at Ramgarh in Chattisgarh state of India. They were trained by the US training command under General Stillwell of Ledo road fame. It is hard to reconcile that China  is our greatest opponent now, but during the war thousands of  Chinese soldiers trained in India . They were taught everything from changing a spare wheel of a Jeep  to handling guns and  rifles.

 This Chinese army later engaged the Japanese , but their performance is not something that set the rivers on fire. The Chinese army in China was also supplied by air by the USAF from bases in India at Chabua and Kumbhigram. This was the famous 'over the hump' route and hundreds of US airmen died on the Himalayan mountains as they flew over the Hump.

 Times have changed and now China is our adversary number one. Perhaps this is the power equation that Pandit Nehru never understood.