Dehradun, Feb. 13 -- Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Friday reflected on India-China relations after independence, saying that the Panchsheel Agreement of 1954, which included India's recognition of Tibet as part of China was aimed at maintaining stability and fostering a cooperative relationship between the two nations.

"On independence, the British left, and it was for India actually to decide where a front is. Nehru probably knew that we had something, as the McMahon Line in the east, and we had some kind of a claim in the Ladakh area, but it was not here. So that's why he wanted to go in for a Panchsheel agreement, probably," the CDS said.

General Chauhan said, "And for the Chinese also. When they had kind of liberate...