Answering a question whether he hated Nehru, he said "hate" is "too strong a word". "I have only criticised his border policy. I knew Nehru well and liked him immensely, he was a man of great charm.
The report proves that talk about China's "unprovoked aggression" is "utterly false" and that India was the aggressor in 1962, Maxwell said in an interview to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
"But of course it's (HBR) not spelled out in those terms, the political conclusion is buried in dense military jargon,written by soldiers for soldiers, the report is hard reading for unversed civilians," he said.
He said his putting the report online deprives the Government of India "the excuse they've used to keep it secret, the false claim that it was to preserve national security".
"But nevertheless, the story emerges. From its very beginning as an independent state, India, which is to say Nehru in this context, took the view that the alignments of India's borders was a matter for India alone to decide,unilaterally, privately and definitively.
When asked why Nehru, a known China ally, took such a strong line, Maxwell, who worked in India at the time as Time Correspondent said: "On that, I have come to some answers, guided by scholars like David Hoffman and Perry Anderson.
Their reading is that the Indian leaders felt insulted by (late Chinese premier) Zhou Enlai's insistence on negotiations as they felt it impugned India's character as an ancient nation with defined boundaries."
Regarding the current border negotiations between India and China, Maxwell said he is hopeful of a settlement.
