Had Nehru paused long enough to understand the implications of Exercise Lal Qila and the common sense behind Thorat’s defensive line, he may well have still adopted the Forward Policy, but left its implementation to the Assam Rifles in NEFA and Sikkim and the Border Police in Ladakh. These lightly held positions would have, as envisaged in Thorat’s plan, fallen back to where the army was waiting for the Chinese. Instead, Nehru brought in the army with the intention of holding ground, in the process forgetting that armies are meant to fight and not just hold ground.
