Centre approves declassification of war documents and histories

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday approved archiving, declassification and compilation of histories of wars and operations by India. The statement released by the Defence Ministry said that 'timely publication of war histories would give people accurate account of the events, provide authentic material for academic research and counter the unfounded rumours.'

Each organisation under the ministry such as the Army, Air Force, Navy, Integrated Defence Staff, Assam Rifles and Indian Coast Guard, will transfer the records -- including war diaries, letters of proceedings and operational record books -- to the ministry’s History Division for proper upkeep, archival and writing of histories.

According to the policy, records should ordinarily be declassified in 25 years. It is for the first time that a government has issued a policy regarding declassification of defense-related information.

However, it is not immediately clear if details and documents related to India's conflict with China in 1962 and Indian Army's Operation Bluestar in 1984 will be declassified under this policy or not. Officials have indicated that a high-level committee at the MoD would decide these matters on a case-to-case basis.