In 1959, the Dalai Lama escaped from Tibet into India, where he was granted refuge. To escort him safely from the Indian border was a carefully calibrated operation that few know about. An Officer and His Holiness narrates how political officer Har Mander Singh successfully managed this assignment in the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) with limited resources, despite a treacherous terrain and external threats. Har Mander Singh kept careful diary entries of the period, which have been reproduced for the first time in this book. His niece, the broadcast journalist Rani Singh, painstakingly documents the story through extensive research, travel and interviews with the Dalai Lama, his youngest brother Tenzin Choegyal and Har Mander Singh. Her own experience of retracing her uncle's journey also provides a comprehensive overview of the situation today. Rare pictures and valuable input from experts bring alive this thrilling operation that forever changed relations between India, China and Tibet.