The Indo-China war of 1962-Why India lost?

                 The single largest military setback that India has ever had since its independence happens to be the Indo-China war of 1962.Shattering the blind faith that had made our Prime Minister Pt Jawarhalal Nehru believe that Chinese would never attack India, the Chinese encashed this hallucination and attacked India snatching from us a part of the crown of our country, the Aksaichin region. Thus enlightening the Indians that there existed another snake in our backyard other than Pakistan.

           

                 India gained independence in the year 1947 and the people’s republic of china was formed in the year 1949 when the communist party led by Mao Zedong took over china. Back then the boundary between India and China was not exactly demarcated but was based on the McMahon line which was drawn up by the British officer Henry McMahon during the Shimla Convention in the year 1914 which was then accepted by the Tibetan representatives.

                 Soon after People’s republic of China was formed,it took control over Tibet with the help of its army stating that Tibet was an integral part of china since ages in the past so it belonged to them.Since India was still a young democratic nation and wanted a peaceful and cordial relationship with its neighours,it did not interfere in the China’s issue of Tibet. In 1954, China and India negotiated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence famously known as the Panchsheel by which the two nations agreed to abide in settling their disputes. India presented a frontier map which was accepted by China, and the slogan Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai (Indians and Chinese are brothers) was popularized during this time. Infact Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru gave up the UN permanent membership to china to build cordial relationship with them.

                 But the scenario in china was far from what Indians had perceived.Even when the Indian prime minister had announced in the parliament that the Macmohan line was the official border between India and China,many of the Chinese maps showed territories beyond the Macmohan line as theirs.The Chinese had also built a road in the Aksai region during 1956 connecting  Xinjiang and Tibet which India only came to know in the year 1958 when it was shown on some of the Chinese maps.

             

   In the year 1959 a Tibetian uprising against the stationed Chinese troops there failed and the Dalai Lama fled to India.The then Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru gave asylum to him which upset the Chinese leader Mao Zedong.The tensions further stepped up when Mao accused India of the Lhasa rebellion in Tibet.

                 As a consequence of their non-recognition of the McMahon Line, China's maps showed both the North East Frontier Area (NEFA) and Aksai Chin to be Chinese territory.In 1960, Zhou Enlai unofficially suggested that India drop its claims to Aksai Chin in return for a Chinese withdrawal of claims over NEFA. Adhering to his stated position, Nehru believed that China did not have a legitimate claim over either of these territories, and thus was not ready to concede them. This adamant stance was perceived in China as Indian opposition to Chinese rule in Tibet. Nehru declined to conduct any negotiations on the boundary until Chinese troops withdrew from Aksai Chin, a position supported by the international community.It believed that India was simply securing its claim lines in order to continue its "grand plans in Tibet". India's stance that China withdraw from Aksai Chin caused continual deterioration of the diplomatic situation to the point that internal forces were pressuring Nehru to take a military stance against China. At the beginning of 1961, Nehru appointed General B. M. Kaul as army Chief of General Staff, but he refused to increase military spending and prepare for a possible war. By 1959, India started sending Indian troops and border patrols into disputed areas. This program created both border skirmishes and deteriorating relations between India and China. The aim of this policy was to create outposts behind advancing Chinese troops to interdict their supplies, forcing them north of the disputed line. There were eventually 60 such outposts, including 43 north of the McMahon Line, to which India claimed sovereignty. China viewed this as further confirmation of Indian expansionist plans directed towards Tibet. Kaul was confident, through contact with Indian Intelligence and CIA information, that China would not react with force. Indeed, at first the PLA simply withdrew, but eventually Chinese forces began to counter-encircle the Indian positions which clearly encroached into the north of McMahon Line. This led to a tit-for-tat Indian reaction, with each force attempting to outmanoeuver the other. Despite the escalating nature of the dispute, the two forces withheld from engaging each other directly.

                   On 20 October 1962, the Chinese People's Liberation Army launched two attacks, 1000 kilometres apart. In the western theatre, the PLA sought to expel Indian forces from the Chip Chap valley in Aksai Chin while in the eastern theatre, the PLA sought to capture both banks of the Namka Chu river. Some skirmishes also took place at the Nathula Pass, which is in the Indian state of Sikkim . Gurkha rifles travelling north were targeted by Chinese artillery fire. After four days of fierce fighting, the three regiments of Chinese troops succeeded in securing a substantial portion of the disputed territory.

On the Aksai Chin front, China already controlled most of the disputed territory. Chinese forces quickly swept the region of any remaining Indian troops. Late on 19 October, Chinese troops launched a number of attacks throughout the western theatre. By 22 October, all posts north of Chushul had been cleared.

              On 24 October, Indian forces fought hard to hold the Rezang La Ridge, in order to prevent a nearby airstrip from falling to the Chinese.This battle is considered to be one of the most important battles of the Indian army history as around 100 Indian soldiers killed more than 1000 Chinese soldiers.Major Shaitan sing was awarded the Param Vir chakra for his bravery here.

             The four days of fighting were followed by a three-week lull. Zhou ordered the troops to stop advancing as he attempted to negotiate with Nehru. He sent Nehru a letter, proposing

1.   A negotiated settlement of the boundary

2.   That both sides disengage and withdraw twenty kilometres from present lines of actual control

3.   A Chinese withdrawal north in NEFA

4.   That China and India not cross lines of present control in Aksai Chin.

Nehru rejected this proposal as already the Chinese troops were 40km into the indian territory and another 20 km would mean India losing 60km of land.So thus, the Indian parliament announced a national emergency and passed a resolution which stated their intent to "drive out the aggressors from the sacred soil of India. After Zhou received Nehru's letter rejecting his proposal, the fighting resumed on the eastern theatre on 14 November (Nehru's birthday), with an Indian attack on Walong,inflicting heavy casualties on the Chinese. The Chinese resumed military activity on Aksai Chin and NEFA hours after the Walong battle.

                   By 19^th November China had reached its claim lines so the PLA did not advance farther, and it declared a unilateral cease-fire.The ceasefire declaration stated,

                   Beginning from 21 November 1962, the Chinese frontier guards will cease fire along the entire Sino-Indian border. Beginning from 1 December 1962, the Chinese frontier guards will withdraw to positions 20 kilometres behind the line of actual control which existed between China and India on 7 November 1959. In the eastern sector, although the Chinese frontier guards have so far been fighting on Chinese territory north of the traditional customary line, they are prepared to withdraw from their present positions to the north of the illegal McMahon Line, and to withdraw twenty kilometres back from that line. In the middle and western sectors, the Chinese frontier guards will withdraw twenty kilometres from the line of actual control.

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". Because of India's inability to anticipate Chinese aggression, Prime Minister Nehru faced harsh criticism from government officials, for having promoted pacifist relations with China. Indian President Radhakrishnan said that Nehru's government was naive and negligent about preparations, and Nehru admitted his failings.So thus the war finally came to an  end.It was also during this period that Lata Mangeshkar sang A mere watan ke logo which brought tears to nehru’s eyes.Another striking feature of this war was that neither of the two countries used the airforce.Later it was revealed that it was advantageous for India it it hasd used the airforce as the Chinese did not have enough fuel or the long runways for the airforce.Henderson-Brooks committee was set up to find the reasons for the indian loss in the war.This committee recently submitted its report but it is still classified as it has found many people in the higher order of ranks guilty of India’s defeat in the war.So this was the war of that India lost.

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