India and China have had a... complicated relationship, with violent altercations
taking place maybe even this very day. Mostly, border disputes are to blame,
but there were, and still are, other factors to consider. One of the most
noteworthy altercations took place in 1962, and went for just over a month. This, of course,
was the Sino-Indian War of 1962, which we're going to try our best to simplify for you in this video.
The Second World War set the stage for some major events in both India and China that, in turn,
precipitated the Sino-Indian War of 1962, so we'll focus mostly on what went down from around the end
of World War II onwards. But it's still important to note that the border disputes go way back,
with a range of different borders drawn both before and during the British Raj
To set the scene, the Sino-Indian border is essentially split into three sections by Nepal
and Bhutan, two smaller countries sandwiched between China and India. There's a small section
between Nepal and Bhutan called the Central Sector, a larger section between Nepal and
Pakistan called the Western Sector, and another large section between Bhutan and Myanmar/Burma
called the Eastern Sector. Complicating things further, most of the Chinese territory touching
all of that includes what is now known as the Tibet Autonomous Region, which was, importantly,
still a de facto independent state during the Second World War and for several years after it.
Straight after World War II, the Chinese Civil War resumed, lasting until 1949,
when the People's Republic of China or PRC was established. On the other side of the coin,
the Indians booted the British out of India in 1947. To put it simply, the PRC was now in control
of China and could call the shots, while Indians were in charge of India again, and India could
call its own shots too. Throughout the late 1940s, things between India and China were pretty chill.
They had been good friends in the past, and India, especially, wanted to build a strong relationship
with China once more. To prove this, India became one of the first nations to recognise the PRC. In
October, however, China put just a bit of pressure on their relationship by invading and annexing
Tibet. Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru started sweating, but Mao Zedong, the Chairman
of the Chinese Communist Party which ruled, and still rules, China, was like, "Brah, it's chill."
In 1954, Nehru drew up some maps defining India's borders, and Mao said that was chill too.
To seal the deal, India and China signed an agreement that year, essentially declaring that,
in light of China swallowing Tibet, both nations were going to respect each other's personal space
while also allowing India to continue trading with Tibet. In 1956, Nehru opened up a Chinese map
and saw that China had included about 120,000 square kilometres of Indian territory as Chinese.
When he asked what the hell was going on, the Chinese government were like "Brah,
we said chill. It was a mistake. Seriously." Then, in 1957, Nehru learned that China had been
building a road between the Chinese autonomous region Xinjiang and Tibet through an area in
the aforementioned Western Sector known as Aksai Chin, which Nehru claimed was part of India. This
pissed Nehru off, and in March the following year, something else got Mao's knickers in a twist too.
Long story short, Tibet's 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet after the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising
and was let into India. Tensions spiked after that, with Mao fearing India's intentions
with Tibet and even claiming that India provoked the Tibetan rebels. In October,
things escalated in Aksai Chin, with nine Indian policemen losing their lives in a firefight.
At this point, border negotiations were going nowhere, and Chinese patrols into territories
that Nehru believed were Indian further angered the Indian prime minister. In retaliation,
India implemented its Forward Policy, ultimately establishing 60 outposts towards the very edge
of their claimed territory. The Chinese answered with outposts of their own,
and soon the border was peppered with Indian and Chinese outposts. Both sides kept their safety on,
however, waiting for the other to fire first. In Mao's words, "If [Nehru] wants to advance,
we might as well adopt armed coexistence. You wave a gun, and I'll wave a gun. We'll stand
face to face and can each practice our courage." But gun-waving could continue for only so long.
In mid-1962, an Indian recon plane was shot down; at least one minor skirmish broke out,
resulting in casualties in the dozens; and 350 Chinese troops surrounded an Indian post,
though this latter altercation ended up being resolved with words instead of violence.
Additionally, Nehru took India's Forward Policy to the next level, allowing Indian
troops to open fire if threatened, while the Chinese starting building up manpower in Tibet
in anticipation of full-blown war. Most notably, India also established an outpost near Thagla
Ridge in the Eastern Sector, giving rise to a confrontation which took place on the 10th of
October 1962. Here, as few as 50 Indian troops were surrounded by as many as *1,000* Chinese
soldiers, with the Chinese shooting first and the Indians retreating after losing half of their men.
Just 10 days later, the Chinese People's Liberation Army or PLA launched a two-pronged
offensive over the Himalayas into the Western Sector of the Sino-Indian border, mostly around
Aksai Chin, which Nehru claimed was part of India, and the Eastern Sector of the border,
mostly around what is now known as the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh,
which Mao wanted to claim for China. This marked the beginning of the Sino-Indian War of 1962,
which lasted until the 21st of November 1962.
Overall, Mao threw as many as 80,000 troops into the fight, while Nehru mustered just 22,000.
In the first four days of the fighting in the Western Sector, the Chinese cleared Indian
troops from Aksai Chin, much of which they already controlled, then followed through with series of
offensives, overwhelming the Indian outposts in that sector. While the Indians put up a fight,
they were overwhelmed and forced to withdraw. In the Eastern Sector,
the Chinese came up behind the Indians positioned along the Namka Chu River under the veil of night,
then opened up with mortar fire and an infantry assault. Here, the Indians were also overwhelmed,
and withdrew into Bhutan. With that battle won, the Chinese pushed onwards, defeating the Indians
in the towns of Walong and Tawang, though not without taking heavy casualties themselves.
After these initial victories, the Chinese took a breather, halting for around three weeks to
allow for negotiations to take place, now with Chinese forces positioned about 16 kilometres or
10 miles nearer to the heart of India. The Chinese essentially said that the offensive could end if
both sides retreated around 20 kilometres or 12 miles. But Nehru wouldn't have a bar of it.
He rejected China's proposal, and the PLA resumed its offensive on the 14th of November, inflicting
heavy casualties in the Western Sector and, via a mountain trail, flanking the Eastern Sector too,
ultimately undoing the bulk of Nehru's forces. Many Indians withdrew, and the Chinese — having
taken hold of the territory they had laid claim to — declared a ceasefire. Rather than keeping all of
the land they'd taken, however, the Chinese went forward with the offering Nehru had previously
rejected, retreating that 20 kilometres and even returning around two-thirds of what became the
state of Arunachal Pradesh to India. Aksai Chin in the Western Sector was more important to the
Chinese, and *even here* they only held onto around one-third of the territory they'd taken,
pretty much gifting India the rest. Really, the Chinese only wanted to keep enough of Aksai Chin
to protect the road they'd built from Xinjiang to Tibet.
Throughout the Sino-Indian War of 1962 , 700 Chinese soldiers were killed,
while a further 1,700 were wounded. Conversely, around 1,380 Indian soldiers lost their lives,
while between 500 and 1,000 were wounded and 4,000 were captured.
The result was a military victory for China, but as we said at the start of this video,
Sino-Indian border disputes *continue to this day,* and it's all incredibly complicated.
All in all, we've just scratched the surface. Considering that the geopolitical backdrop was
no less than the *Cold War,* there were many other reasons why India and China started
fighting and kept on fighting — as there are many reasons why they're still fighting today.
But we're interested to hear what you think. Would you like us to delve deeper into
all things India and China? Had you heard of the Sino-Indian War of 1962 before today?
How did we go summarising the conflict? Please share your thoughts in the comments.