Henderson Brooks–Bhagat Report

The Henderson Brooks-Bhagat report is the report of an analysis, referred to in the report as an "Operations Review", of the events leading up to the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Its authors are officers of the Indian armed forces: Lieutenant-General T.B. Henderson Brooks and Brigadier Premindra Singh Bhagat, Victoria Cross recipient and then the commandant of the Indian Military Academy.

The report is said to be openly critical of the Indian political and military structure of the time as well as of the execution of operations. According to Australian journalist Neville Maxwell, the report claims that the Indian government, which was keen to recover territory, advocated a cautious policy but that the Army Headquarters dictated a policy that was militarily unsound.[1]

On 17 March 2014, Maxwell posted Volume 1 of the two-volume report on his website.[2] Maxwell had acquired a copy of the report and wrote his book India's China War based on it.[3] In an interview, Maxwell said he had never seen Volume 2 but understood it to be "mainly memos, written statements and other documents on which the authors based the report".[4]

Some analysts argue that the continuing public controversy over the report indicates that many of the problems identified in the report still continue.[5]

Governments led by Indian National Congress as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party have refused to declassify the report over the decades, claiming that its contents are extremely sensitive and are of "current operational value".[6][7][8]