In the face of distrust and suspicions of secrecy, Nehru (a democrat at heart) announced that all notes and papers exchanged in the previous five years which pertained to relations with China would be released in official ‘White Papers.’ The decision was spontaneously taken, without reflection and without internal consultations and, in effect, it compromised confidentiality, which is an essential ingredient of diplomacy and intergovernment exchange… The commitment that every diplomatic document exchanged would be made public, inhibited our relations with China for years. (Mehta 2006; pp.73–4)
