India & China were not rivals
throughout the history till 50s. Indian stability always depended on the stability of
Afghans in North-West. None of our rulers were worried about any threat from
North. So, how come India & China went to war in 1962?
Aksai Chin was a part of Indian princely
state of Jammu & Kashmir and the border line was called Jhonson line (which
puts all Aksai Chin in India). This line was accepted by the local rules of
Xinjiang & Tibet and also by the Central Chines Govt. Even Chinese
University maps in 1920 showed full of Aksai Chin in India. But some quarters
of Chinses were of the mind that the boarder is Macartney–Macdonald Line (which
puts westersn Aksai chin in India & Eastern part in China). Even the
Communist China (People’s Republic of China) accepted the same boarder line
till 1950s. But after their victory in Civil war and conquering former part of
Chinese empire like Inner Magnolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, East Turkmenistan etc, Mao
rejected the Macartney–Macdonald Line. In the meanwhile also, Chines
constructed a road to connect Xinjiang & Tibet right across the Aksai Chin
in the Indian Territory. When the road was complete, Chinese kept increasing
their claim line. Same thing had happened for NEFA (Now Arunachal Pradesh). McMahon
Line was accepted as boundary between Indian & Tibet in 1914. Tibet was
independent at that time. But later when communists captured Tibet in 1950s
they rejected this boundary & claimed whole of NEFA for themselves.
Nehru also played into the hand of Mao
& Chou En-lai. They kept Nehru engaged in false dialogues and in slogans
like Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai (India & China are brothers). Tibet was always a
buffer between India & China. Sometime Tibet was independent &
sometimes it was a tributary of Central authority in China. India also had a
good influence over Tibet. Mao was testing India over Tibet. Had Nehru sent
Indian forces in Tibet in support of Dalai Lama or even just as a show of
force, Tibet would have been independent. Patel had warned Nehru about Chinese
intention in Tibet but the warning was ignored. A few western scholar thinks
that Nehru was afraid of joint Chinese – Russian action in case he sent force
in Tibet. Suddenly in 1950s, India found a giant aggressive neighbor at her
northern boundary which never existed before in history. And newly independent
India was afraid of wars. And Indian military preparation was weak to an extent
that even Pakistanis were confident of marching into Delhi in just matter of
days in 1960s. And political interference in army had wakened the Army command
structure. Even the famous General Thimayya was forced to clamp down. Defense
minister Menon was also added the problem in giving the command to General Kaul
in eastern sector.
When Nehru adopted the forward policy,
it backfired as Army was not ready. Even when Jawans & officers were ready,
then Army leadership was not ready. When Chines attacked, Indian defense in
NEFA collapsed. Indian army was let down by its own officers in 1962 war. E.g-
At one instance in Bomdila sector, 1500 well fed 7 armed soldiers withdrew
without firing a single bullet. Whenever Indians resisted, it took a heavy toll
on Chinese. Many historic battels were fought and at many places, Indian Army
performed gallantly but at many places it withdrew rather in an unorganized
manner. The result was humiliating defeat for India. China captured Aksai Chin
but withdrew from NEFA. But there was a silver lining in this lowest hour also.
Indian Army started modernization & improved its command structure and this
helped India to defeat Pakistan in 1965. Without defeat of 1962, the outcome of
1965 war with Pak may have a different result.
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