Nehru okayed US spy flights to China from Orissa base: CIA files

The CIA report,released by the National Security Archive,states that the US had two missions in mind when it stationed aircraft in India — to get a clear picture of Chinese deployment along the disputed border and to use it as a staging area to spy on the Russian anti-ballistic missile (ABM) testing site at Saryshagan (now in Kazakhstan).

In a detailed chapter on U-2 operations in India,the CIA records show that when Nehru sought US assistance after the Chinese attack in 1962,Washington suggested that aerial reconnaissance of the disputed areas should be carried out to provide US a clear picture of the situation.

Permission to use Indian airspace was given on November 11,1962 following which a detachment of aircraft from Thailand carried out spying missions in the month of December and January 1963.

“Photography from these missions was used in January and again in March 1963 to brief Nehru,who then informed the Indian parliament about Communist Chinese troop movements along the border,” the declassified records state,adding that China registered a formal protest to India after the overflights.

Following the spying missions,the US made a formal request to India to set up a base for U-2 aircraft during a meeting between Presidents J F Kennedy and S Radhakrishnan in Washington on June 3,1963.

The Indian side agreed to the request and offered an abandoned World War II base at Charbatia as a base for the spy aircraft,the report states. The base is currently being operated by the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

While the base would help spy on China,the US also thought it could “lead to obtaining a permanent staging base in India for electronic reconnaissance missions against the Soviet ABM site at Saryshagan and photographic missions against portions of western China”.

But it took longer than expected to establish a base in Charbatia and spy flights continued to take place from Thailand for over a year. The Indian side managed to prepare the base only by early 1964.

“The first mission out of Charbatia did not take place until 24 May 1964. Three days later PM Nehru died,and further operations were postponed. The pilots and aircraft left Charbatia but other equipment remained in place to save staging costs,” the report states. While it does not elaborate on why the aircraft left,political uncertainty following Nehru’s death could have been the consideration.

The aircraft returned to Charbatia in December 1964 when tension between India and China increased again and carried out “three highly successful missions”. The CIA report on the U-2 aircraft says that the US eventually made Thailand its main base for spy operations and the Charbatia base was closed down in July 1967.

No reason has been stated for closing down the base. India and China had their last border skirmish in October 1967,in which the Indian side performed better than they did in 1962.