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An Overview of the 1962 War continues...
Historical studies in China as recently as the 1990s still support the
position that India was planning aggression in Tibet. Most Chinese
scholars believe that the root cause of the conflict was India’s plan to seize Tibet and turn it into a protectorate or colony of India, to create a ‘Great Indian Empire’. China’s assumptions about Indian attitudes towards Tibet, whilst perhaps understandable from the Chinese perspective, are believed by most neutral observers to be fundamentally
incorrect and a major contributory factor to the conflict.
During the buildup to the war the Indian government largely maintained a policy
of non-violent reaction and sought Indo-Chinese friendship, even to
the point of failing to prepare for military action when its military leaders were recommending such precautions.
As per John Garver, a political analyst at Harvard University, USA,
two of the major factors leading up to China’s eventual conflicts with
Indian troops were India’s stance on the disputed borders and perceived
Indian subversion in Tibet.
There was ‘a perceived need to punish and end perceived Indian efforts to undermine Chinese control of Tibet,
Indian efforts which were perceived as having the objective of restoring
the pre-1949 status quo ante of Tibet.’ The other was ‘a perceived need
to punish and end perceived Indian aggression against Chinese territory along the border.’ John W. Garver argues that though the first
perception was incorrect based on the state of the Indian military and
polity in 1961-1962, it was, nevertheless a major reason for China’s going to war. However, he argues that the Chinese perception of aggression to be ‘substantially accurate.
To be continued...