Today is the 50th anniversary  1962 Sino-Indian War (also called China War) and whole nation is paying homage to its martyrs and heroes  for the first time in history. The Defense Ministry is also honoring the dead and participants of the 1962 war officially for the first time.
Speaking on the occasion Defense Minister A K Antony said, “I would like to assure the nation that India of today is not the India of 1962. Over the years, successive governments learning lessons from the past strengthened our capabilities and modernised our armed forces… we are confident armed forces will be able to protect the border in event of any threat,“.
The Defence Minister was asked to assess the threat from China and India’s preparation to tackle it.
In the war, India suffered defeat at the hands of the Chinese Army which went to capture large portion of Indian territory.
The Defence Minister, who along with Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju, Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh and the three services chiefs paid homage to the 1962 war heroes and laid wreaths at Amar Jawan Jyoti, said successive governments have learnt lessons from the war and strengthened military capabilities and developed infrastructure.
“We will vigorously continue to strengthen our capabilities,” the Defence Minister said.
Antony also noted that India was holding dialogue with China to find a solution to the long-pending border dispute and has established a mechanism to “immediately settle” any tensions on the border.
Asked why did it take 50 years for the Government to honour the soldiers and martyrs of the 1962 war, the Defence Minister said, “Nothing changed. This is the 50th year and we thought this is the time the whole nation must pay our homage to the officers and jawans who lost lives to protect our border.”