Vohra, a former Punjab cadre IAS officer who was the Defence Secretary from March 1990 to April 1993, was speaking at the inaugural session of the 4th Military Literature Festival. The annual event was conducted virtually from Chandigarh this year. Narrating an anecdote, Vohra said in the late 1980s when Lt General Harbaksh Singh, the former Western Army Commander, wrote a book on the 1965 war, the first instinct was how to stop his pension. “The opinion was — how dare he write on the war without prior permission!” said Vohra. Certain maps of the western border were used in the book, which meant he should have sought permission.