General M.M. Naravane, India's former Chief of Army Staff, revealed in his book that on August 31, 2020, at 8:15 PM, four Chinese tanks with infantry support advanced within a few hundred meters of Indian positions at Rechin La in Ladakh, prompting urgent calls to top officials including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for orders, according to a post by @tequieremos on X shared during the reporting window from 9:45:38 AM to 12:45:38 PM UTC on February 2, 2026. Naravane stated he made repeated calls to Rajnath Singh, NSA Ajit Doval, CDS Gen. Bipin Rawat, and EAM S. Jaishankar, receiving no clear orders to open fire until cleared from the top, as detailed in the X post citing his book. At 10:30 PM, after speaking to the Prime Minister, Rajnath Singh instructed Naravane with the phrase “Jo uchit samjho, woh karo” (“Do what you think appropriate”), per the source. The account describes Naravane caught between commands urging to open fire and a government committee yet to provide executive orders, according to the post. The Modi government is not giving clearance to certain chapters of the book, the source states. These revelations from Naravane's book emerged in a post shared this morning on X, with no immediate official response noted in the reporting window.
