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The Sino-Indian War was a war between China and India that occurred in 1962.
A disputed Himalayan border was the main pretext for war, but other issues played a
role. China’s perception of India as a threat to its rule of Tibet was also one of the most
prominent reasons for the Sino-Indian War. India initiated a Forward Policy in which it
placed outposts along the border, including several north of the McMahon Line, the
eastern portion of a Line of Actual Control proclaimed by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai
in 1959. Unable to reach political accommodation on disputed territory along the 3,225
km long Himalayan border, the Chinese launched simultaneous offensives in Ladakh
and across the McMahon Line on 20th October 1962, coinciding with the Cuban
Missile Crisis. The Sino-Indian War is notable for the harsh mountain conditions under
which much of the fighting took place, entailing large-scale combat at altitudes of over
4,000 metres. The war was also noted for the non-deployment of the navy or air force
by either the Chinese or Indian side. Towards the end of the war India increased its
support for Tibetan refugees and revolutionaries, some of them having settled in India,
as they were fighting the same common enemy in the region. The war that began on
20th October 1962, continued for about a month. The standoff between approximately
10,000-20,000 Indian troops and 80,000 Chinese troops ended on 21st November
after China declared a ceasefire.
LOCATION (Border)
China and India shared a long border, sectioned into three stretches by Nepal,
Sikkim (then an Indian protectorate), and Bhutan, which follows the Himalayas
between Burma and what was then West Pakistan. A number of disputed regions lie
along this border.
THE WAR
The cause of the war was a dispute over the sovereignty of the widely separated
Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh border regions. Aksai Chin, claimed by India to
belong to Kashmir and by China to be part of Xinjiang, contains an important road link
that connects the Chinese regions of Tibet and Xinjiang. China's construction of this
road was one of the triggers of the conflict.
From 1959 forward, border skirmishes broke out along the disputed line. In
1961, Nehru instituted the Forward Policy, in which India tried to establish border
outposts and patrols north of Chinese positions, in order to cut them off from their
supply line. The Chinese responded in kind, each side seeking to flank the other
without direct confrontation. The summer and fall of 1962 saw increasing numbers of
border incidents in Aksai Chin. One June skirmish killed more than twenty Chinese
troops. In July, India authorized its troops to fire not only in self- defence but to drive
the Chinese back. By October, even as Zhou Enlai was personally assuring Nehru in
New Delhi that China did not want war, the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA)
was massing along the border. The first heavy fighting took place on October 10, 1962,
in a skirmish that killed 25 Indian troops and 33 Chinese soldiers. On October 20, the
PLA launched a two-pronged attack, seeking to drive the Indians out of Aksai Chin.
Within two days, China had seized the entire territory. The main force of the Chinese
PLA was 10 miles (16 kilometres) south of the line of control by October 24. During a
three-week ceasefire, Zhou Enlai ordered the Chinese to hold their position, as he sent
a peace proposal to Nehru. The Chinese proposal was that both sides disengage and
withdraw twenty kilometres from their current positions. Nehru responded that the
Chinese troops needed to withdraw to their original position instead, and he called for
a wider buffer zone. On November 14, 1962, the war resumed with an Indian attack
against the Chinese position at Walong.
FINAL BATTLE (Result)
CASUALITIES
The war lasted just one month but killed 1,383 Indian troops and 722 Chinese
troops. An additional 1,047 Indians and 1,697 Chinese were wounded, and nearly
4,000 Indian soldiers were captured. Many of the casualties were caused by the harsh
conditions at 14,000 feet, rather than by enemy fire. Hundreds of the wounded on both
sides died of exposure before their comrades could get medical attention for them.
AFTERMATH
According to the China's official military history, the war achieved China's policy
objectives of securing borders in its western sector, as China retained de facto control
of the Aksai Chin. After the war, India abandoned the Forward Policy, and the de facto
borders stabilised along the Line of Actual Control. The aftermath of the war saw
sweeping changes in the Indian military to prepare it for similar conflicts in the future,
and placed pressure on Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who was seen as
responsible for failing to anticipate the Chinese attack on India. Indians reacted with a
surge in patriotism and memorials were erected for many of the Indian troops who died
in the war. Arguably, the main lesson India learned from the war was the need to
strengthen its own defences and a shift from Nehru's foreign policy with China based
on his stated concept of "brotherhood".
https://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/politics/why-the-india-china-war-happened
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