Page "Jawaharlal Nehru" Paragraph 103

During the conflict, Nehru wrote two desperate letters to U. S. President John F. Kennedy, requesting 12 squadrons of fighter jets and a modern radar system.

These jets were seen as necessary to beef up Indian air strength so that air to air combat could be initiated safely from the Indian perspective ( bombing troops was seen as unwise for fear of Chinese retaliatory action ).

Nehru also asked that these aircraft be manned by American pilots until Indian airmen were trained to replace them.

These requests were rejected by the Kennedy Administration ( which was involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis during most of the Sino-Indian War ), leading to a cool down in Indo-US relations.

According to former Indian diplomat G Parthasarathy, " only after we got nothing from the US did arms supplies from the Soviet Union to India commence ".

Per Time Magazine's 1962 editorial on the war, however, this may not have been the case.

The editorial states, ' When Washington finally turned its attention to India, it honored the ambassador's pledge, loaded 60 U. S. planes with $ 5, 000, 000 worth of automatic weapons, heavy mortars and land mines.

Twelve huge C-130 Hercules transports, complete with U. S. crews and maintenance teams, took off for New Delhi to fly Indian troops and equipment to the battle zone.

Britain weighed in with Bren and Sten guns, and airlifted 150 tons of arms to India.

Canada prepared to ship six transport planes.

Australia opened Indian credits for $ 1, 800, 000 worth of munitions '.