The
Sino-Indian War (
Hindi:
भारत-चीन युद्ध Bhārat-Chīn Yuddh), also known as the
Sino-Indian Border Conflict (
simplified Chinese:
中印边境战争;
traditional Chinese:
中印邊境戰爭;
pinyin:
Zhōng-Yìn Biānjìng Zhànzhēng), 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. There had been a series of violent border incidents after the
1959 Tibetan uprising, when India had granted asylum to the
Dalai Lama. 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-kilometre-long Himalayan border,
[8] the Chinese launched simultaneous offensives in
Ladakh and across the McMahon Line on 20 October 1962. Chinese troops advanced over Indian forces in both theatres, capturing
Rezang la in
Chushul in the western theatre, as well as
Tawang in the eastern theatre. The war ended when China declared a
ceasefire on 20 November 1962, and simultaneously announced its withdrawal from one of the two disputed areas. Indian posts and patrols were removed from
Aksai Chin, which came under direct Chinese control after the end of the conflict.
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 (14,000 feet).
[9] The Sino-Indian War was also noted for the non-deployment of the navy or air force by either the Chinese or Indian side.
It is noteworthy that the buildup and offensive from China occurred concurrently with the 13-day
Cuban Missile Crisis (16–28 October 1962) that saw both the United States and the Soviet Union confronting each other, and India did not receive assistance from either of these world powers until the Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved.
Location
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. At its western end is the
Aksai Chin region, an area the size of Switzerland, that sits between the Chinese autonomous region of
Xinjiang and
Tibet (which China declared as an autonomous region in 1965). The eastern border, between Burma and Bhutan, comprises the present Indian state of
Arunachal Pradesh (formerly the
North East Frontier Agency). Both of these regions were overrun by China in the 1962 conflict.
Most combat took place at high altitudes. The Aksai Chin region is a desert of salt flats around 5,000 metres above sea level, and
Arunachal Pradesh is mountainous with a number of peaks exceeding 7,000 metres. The Chinese Army had possession of one of the highest ridges in the regions. The high altitude and freezing conditions also cause logistical and welfare difficulties; in past similar conflicts (such as the
Italian Campaign of
World War I) harsh conditions have caused more casualties than have enemy action. The Sino-Indian War was no different, with many troops on both sides dying in the freezing cold.
[10]
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