Sino-Indian War

The Sino-Indian Border War (Simplified Chinese: 中印边境战争; Traditional Chinese: 中印邊境戰爭; pinyin: Zhōng-Yìn Biānjìng Zhànzhēng; Hindi:भारत-चीन युद्ध; transliteration: bhārat-chīn yuddha), was declared on 10 October 1962. It was triggered by a dispute over the Himalayan border in Aksai Chin between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of India. The disputed area was claimed to be strategic for the PRC, as it enabled a western connection (China National Highway G219) between the Chinese territories of Tibet and Xinjiang. Another battlefield is nowadays Arunachal Pradesh which is called South Tibet in China. The war ended when the Chinese unilaterally declared a ceasefire on 20 November 1962, to go into effect at 00:00 21 November 1962, after defeating India in Aksai Chin. Aksai Chin remains under Chinese control today.

The Sino-Indian War is one of the largest military conflicts fought at such a high altitude and an example of mountain warfare, with combat taking place at over 4267 metres, or 14,000 feet. Another high-altitude conflict was the Kargil War of 1999.

Causes of the war

British India and Tibet had never clearly marked their mutual border. The British Survey of India mapped the boundaries of Aksai Chin and the British government put up boundary markers, but administrative borders lay further south.

The British claimed that the McMahon Line, which was drawn up during the Simla Conference of 1914 and agreed to by the Tibetans, was valid. However, because of disagreements with the British, the Qing Dynasty authorities and the Republic of China refused to accept the terms imposed by Britain. China refused to recognize the boundary on the grounds that Tibet, allegedly a dependency of China since the rule of the Qing Dynasty, could not make treaties. As a result, China did not recognize the validity of the McMahon Line. Even the independence of India in 1947 and the establishment of the PRC in October 1, 1949, did not fully resolve the border issues.

India and the PRC maintained good relations throughout the 1950s, focusing on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence proposed by the prime ministers of the two countries in 1953. However, after the PRC occupied Tibet in 1950, the Indian government under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru adopted a policy of aggressive military deployment in the border area. China disputed India's claim that the Line of Actual Control was a demarcation line. Until 1962, India and China both maintained forces in the disputed area. Periodically each side accused the other of moving troops over the border as each side tried to extend its line of actual control. A few skirmishes occurred during this time.

Both Chinese and Indian sources continued the dispute until the cause escalated into war. India disputed troop movements and border claims by China. Negotiations between the two countries deteriorated over the following months. This transformed a boundary problem into a dispute, which then progressed into a border war. China maintained that parts of the boundaries remained undetermined and needed to be negotiated. The Indians held that previous events had already determined the boundaries and therefore decided to establish checkposts along them. Fighting began shortly thereafter, with both sides claiming that the other had started the aggression.

Events in the war

Various border conflicts and "military incidents" between India and China flared up throughout the summer and fall of 1962. According to Chinese resources, in the June of 1962, a small skirmish broke out between the two sides, and dozens of PLA were killed and wounded. Units of the Indian and Chinese militaries maintained close contact throughout September 1962; however, hostile fire occurred only infrequently. On September 8, 1962, a 600-strong Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) unit launched a surprise attack on one of the Indian forward posts at Dhola on the Thagla Ridge, three kilometers north of the McMahon Line, which is deep in Chinese territory by even India's own claim. Nehru had gone to London to attend a Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference and when told of the act, said to the media that the Indian Army had instructions to free the territory from PLA occupation. However, Nehru's directives to Defense Minister V.K. Krishna Menon were unclear, and the response, code named Operation LEGHORN, got underway only slowly. By the time an Indian battalion reached the Thagla Ridge in the Chedong region on September 16, Chinese units controlled both banks of the Namka Chu River. The day after, India's Chief of the Army Staff Kaul ordered his men to re-take the Thagla Ridge. On September 20, at one of the bridges on the river a firefight developed, killing nine Chinese and Indian soldiers.

On 10 October, a 50-strong Indian military patrol, with a majority of Sikh soldiers, moved toward the bridges of Yumtso La, to be met by an emplaced Chinese position of some 1000 soldiers. The patrol was forced to retreat after taking heavy fire, suffering 50% casualties; however, the total number of killed and wounded on the Chinese side was actually higher. This date of this conflict is often given as the official start of the Sino-Indian Border War .

On October 12, Nehru proclaimed India's intention to drive the Chinese out of areas claimed by India. On October 14, Indian defence minister Menon called for his men to fight China to the last man and the last gun.

On October 20, 1962, the Chinese People's Liberation Army launched two coordinated attacks, 1000 kilometers apart, in the Chip Chap valley in Ladakh and the Namka Chu river. After securing a substantial portion of the disputed territory, the Chinese made an offer to negotiate on October 24. The Indian government promptly rejected this offer and tried to regroup during a lull in the fighting.

Indian forces had displayed determined but insufficient resistance. The Indian deployment covered a large area and Indian units required an airlift for more supplies. The Indian jawans also lacked both sufficient supplies and training for mountain combat. Some skirmishes also took place in Sikkim (at that time an Indian protectorate) at the Nathula Pass.

Neither side declared war, used their airforce, or fully broke off diplomatic relations; however, the conflict is commonly referred to as a war.

By November 18 the PLA had penetrated close to the outskirts of Tezpur, Assam, a major frontier town nearly fifty kilometers from the Assam-North-East Frontier Agency border. Due either to logistical problems (according to Indian accounts) or for political reasons (according to Chinese accounts) the PLA did not advance farther, and on November 21 it declared a unilateral cease-fire. The United States Air Force flew in massive supplies to India in November, 1962, but neither side wished to continue hostilities. The PLA withdrew to positions it had occupied before the war and on which China had staked its diplomatic claim.

After the war

After India's defeat, Indian Defense Minister Menon resigned. Prime Minister Nehru also faced harsh accusations from government officials. Neither the People's Republic of China nor India officially admitted to starting the war as accusations continued between the two governments.

The Indian government commissioned an investigation, resulting in the Henderson-Brooks Report on the causes of the war and the reasons for defeat. However, the Indian government has refused to declassify the relevant documents. No known commission of inquiry has reported for the Chinese side on the events that led to the war. India's defeat in 1962 led to an overhaul of the Indian Army in terms of doctrine, training, organization and equipment.

In the early 1980s, following a shift of emphasis in the Indian military, the Indian army began to actively patrol the Line of Actual Control (LoAC). Friction began to ensue over the Chinese occupation of the Sumdorong Chu pasturage, lying north of Tawang. The Indian media gave the matter national prominence, and an angry exchange of official protests between the Chinese and Indian governments followed. The Indian Parliament passed a bill setting up the state of Arunachal Pradesh, a territory in which China claims 11 of 15 districts.

In 1993 and 1996 the two sides signed the Sino-Indian Bilateral Peace and Tranquillity Accords, an agreement to maintain peace and tranquillity along the LoAC. Ten meetings of a Sino-Indian Joint Working Group (SIJWG) and five of an expert group have taken place to determine where the LoAC lies, but little progress has occurred. Recently, as a goodwill gesture during the visit of Chinese Prime Minister to India, China recognised the territory of Sikkim, as belonging to India.

Neither the Indian nor the PRC governments appear very interested in disturbing the status quo, and the disputed boundary, called by Indians the Line of Actual Control or the McMahon Line, does not currently appear to be a possible major flashpoint. Military commissions from China and India meet regularly in the capitals of both countries to discuss the status of the border. However, they have made little progress in resolving this contentious border issue.

On July 6th, 2006 the historic silk road passing through this territory was reopened, signalling further hopes of reconcilliation between the two regional powers.

References

Bibliography

Gunnar Myrdal. Asian Drama; An Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations. New York:Random House, 1968

External links

Wars of China | Wars of India | Independent India

Indisch-Chinesischer Grenzkrieg | מלחמת הודו-סין | 中印国境紛争 | 中印边境战争