Seventy-five years ago, Major Bob Khathing peacefully secured Tawang for India, hoisting the Tricolour in 1951. As tensions with China persist, revisiting this forgotten act of statecraft highlights the strategic importance of the Himalayan frontier.
In the early 1950s, newly independent India was racing to unify its scattered territories into one nation. Across the border, Mao Zedong was consolidating power in China and soon moved to annex Tibet. This made Tawang, part of India’s North-East Frontier Agency and lying south of the McMahon Line, a critical focus area for New Delhi.
On February 14, 1951, the Indian Tricolour was hoisted in Tawang, marking its integration into India. That watershed moment, which completes 75 years next week, was achieved without a shot being fired. The man behind it was Major Bob Khathing Ralengnao, a Naga officer from Manipur who had earlier fought alongside the Allies against Japanese forces during World War II. His skills, trust-building, and local knowledge enabled India to secure the strategically vital region peacefully.
Tawang’s importance was highlighted during the 1962 war, when Chinese forces entered India through this very frontier. The episode highlighted why securing the region in 1951 was crucial for India’s territorial integrity.
Beyond its strategic relevance, Tawang holds immense spiritual significance. It is home to the Tawang Monastery, the second-largest monastery of Tibetan Buddhism after Lhasa, and a major centre of the Gelugpa tradition. The region is also revered as the birthplace of the Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, who lived between 1683 and 1706.
Today, India’s Northeastern frontiers occupy a central place in strategic, political, and developmental discourse. With nearly 99 percent of its boundaries shared with other countries, the region remains at the heart of India’s border anxieties. Tawang, located on the eastern Himalayan frontier, continues to be linked to India-China tensions and has been a recurring diplomatic flashpoint.
At this juncture, revisiting the story of how Tawang became part of India offers a forgotten lesson in statecraft. Major Bob Khathing’s 1951 expedition stands as a reminder of how foresight, local engagement, and decisive leadership secured a region that remains vital to India’s security and identity.
