New Delhi didn’t draw lesson from 1962 border war

[CAD]

The border standoff between Chinese and Indian troops has lasted for more than five weeks. There are widespread worries that the standoff may escalate into an armed conflict.

China doesn't want a war. Many Indian media outlets and analysts put all the blame on China for the standoff and conclude that China had plotted to provoke the conflict in an attempt to divert attention from its internal problems. The reports even related the face-off to the 19th Communist Party of China National Congress to be held later this year. This bookish analysis reflects what little knowledge of China some Indian media and scholars have.

So far as I know, there are no more than 200 China experts in India, of which 10 percent, at most, can read or speak Chinese. Most of these experts study China based on publications from the US and Europe and a few English publications published by China, but sadly they believe that they have been well informed about China.

Indian reporters in China barely understand Chinese. Some of them even describe the neighbor as "Communist China," which feels like a term from 40 years ago. Regrettably, it is these people that shape India's understanding and judgment of China.

China does have many domestic problems, nonetheless they are no more serious than what's facing India internally. In fact, to prepare for the 19th Party Congress, China needs domestic harmony and a peaceful international environment rather than conflict, a point which may be hard for Indians to understand.

Some Indian experts I met insisted that the 1962 border war between the two countries was waged by China in a bid to divert attention away from its problems at home. I replied: Assume that's true, why did China choose India?

With the most countries along its border in the world, China has resolved its land boundary issues with all its neighbors except for India and Bhutan. Isn't this thought-provoking?

It serves China's national interests to prolong the peaceful period of strategic opportunity. Although Indian border troops crossed into the Chinese area of Doklam, the Chinese government has exercised restraint. Neither does India need a war, though its Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat has claimed that the army is ready for "a two-and-a-half-front war" and some Indians consider their troops strong enough to defeat the Chinese army and wipe out their disgrace from the 1962 war.

India had an economy equal to China's in the early 1980s, but now its GDP and per capita income is just one fifth of China's. The reform and development in the past 20 years has laid a sound foundation for the Indian economy and it is embracing a period of rapid growth due to the reforms by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a favorable international environment.

If India fights a large-scale war with China now, it will not only scare away foreign investment, but also disrupt India's economy. Even if a war is brief, China and India may still be locked in a standoff for a long time. In this case, India will have its economic momentum disrupted and lose its opportunities to rise.

That said, a war is not completely impossible. There are a great deal of precedents of unnecessary battles fought at the completely wrong time and place. So far, it is the prime goal of diplomats of both sides to prevent a war that neither wants. To this end, they must not bluff. The 1962 war, triggered as India operated the Forward Policy, has left Indians hostile toward China for decades. A larger war today may give rise to strong animosity between the two sides for centuries.

Even if the standoff is resolved diplomatically, it has already crippled the bilateral relationship. This will have a long-term impact on Sino-Indian ties.

The bright side is, the standoff has enabled the two governments to begin to know each other. If one insists the other is a strategic menace, it will lead to a self-fulfilling of prophecy and eventually confrontation. But there is also a silver lining if the two sides can dispel their misunderstandings through communication and take measures to enhance official and people-to-people exchanges, so as to improve bilateral ties.


http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1057632.shtml



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[CAD]

Global Times trashes India's China experts and journos, saying they don't even speak and read Chinese.

 

[third eye]

Amazing obsession by Pak posters.

Indian reporters in China barely understand Chinese. Some of them even describe the neighbor as "Communist China," which feels like a term from 40 years ago.

Isn't China a Communist Nation ?

What part of " Communist China " is wrong?

If India fights a large-scale war with China now, it will not only scare away foreign investment, but also disrupt India's economy. Even if a war is brief, China and India may still be locked in a standoff for a long time. In this case, India will have its economic momentum disrupted and lose its opportunities to rise.

This applies equally to China too, so whats the point ?

 

[CAD]

India to deploy Apache Attack Helicopters near China to Stop Chinese Gunships intrusions.

http://www.defencenews.in/article.aspx?id=263360

It Seem, Indian knows war is inevitable and diplomatic efforts and all channels are ostensible to fail or already failing or failed, so that's why they have just commencement their preparations from the first or already started by deploying Apache Attack Helicopters.

But, would meet same humiliation and worse defeat just like in 1962 at the hands of our iron brother China.

Meanwhile, Indian media, society and their brass including their military depicts this that Chinese power has continued to grow over the last two decades. Concomitantly, its interests continued to expand. As China ventured into South Asia and the larger Indian Ocean region, India looked on without any sense of purpose. Reassured by their own Indian Sinologists that the Chinese have no expansionist designs, india continued to neglect their military and logistical preparedness, not even bothering about their border infrastructure. After all, if the Chinese didn’t want to have a conflict with india, what was the point in building up our defences? Chinese troops are knocking in Bhutan and India is being threatened because of India’s own fault in trying to get too close to the US and standing up for India’s core interests.

China’s growing economic and diplomatic footprint around the world is now being followed by its military footprint, and that’s the reality of great power politics.

 

[jetray]

well some one seems to have selective amnesia about 1987 incident.

 

[neem456]

Now this is cheating, this warning was used last month.
You cannot use same warning again, please use a new one.
This warning is dismissed.

 

[navtrek]

The border standoff between Chinese and Indian troops has lasted for more than five weeks. There are widespread worries that the standoff may escalate into an armed conflict.

China doesn't want a war. Many Indian media outlets and analysts put all the blame on China for the standoff and conclude that China had plotted to provoke the conflict in an attempt to divert attention from its internal problems. The reports even related the face-off to the 19th Communist Party of China National Congress to be held later this year. This bookish analysis reflects what little knowledge of China some Indian media and scholars have.

So far as I know, there are no more than 200 China experts in India, of which 10 percent, at most, can read or speak Chinese. Most of these experts study China based on publications from the US and Europe and a few English publications published by China, but sadly they believe that they have been well informed about China.

Indian reporters in China barely understand Chinese. Some of them even describe the neighbor as "Communist China," which feels like a term from 40 years ago. Regrettably, it is these people that shape India's understanding and judgment of China.

China does have many domestic problems, nonetheless they are no more serious than what's facing India internally. In fact, to prepare for the 19th Party Congress, China needs domestic harmony and a peaceful international environment rather than conflict, a point which may be hard for Indians to understand.

Some Indian experts I met insisted that the 1962 border war between the two countries was waged by China in a bid to divert attention away from its problems at home. I replied: Assume that's true, why did China choose India?

With the most countries along its border in the world, China has resolved its land boundary issues with all its neighbors except for India and Bhutan. Isn't this thought-provoking?

It serves China's national interests to prolong the peaceful period of strategic opportunity. Although Indian border troops crossed into the Chinese area of Doklam, the Chinese government has exercised restraint. Neither does India need a war, though its Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat has claimed that the army is ready for "a two-and-a-half-front war" and some Indians consider their troops strong enough to defeat the Chinese army and wipe out their disgrace from the 1962 war.

India had an economy equal to China's in the early 1980s, but now its GDP and per capita income is just one fifth of China's. The reform and development in the past 20 years has laid a sound foundation for the Indian economy and it is embracing a period of rapid growth due to the reforms by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a favorable international environment.

If India fights a large-scale war with China now, it will not only scare away foreign investment, but also disrupt India's economy. Even if a war is brief, China and India may still be locked in a standoff for a long time. In this case, India will have its economic momentum disrupted and lose its opportunities to rise.

That said, a war is not completely impossible. There are a great deal of precedents of unnecessary battles fought at the completely wrong time and place. So far, it is the prime goal of diplomats of both sides to prevent a war that neither wants. To this end, they must not bluff. The 1962 war, triggered as India operated the Forward Policy, has left Indians hostile toward China for decades. A larger war today may give rise to strong animosity between the two sides for centuries.

Even if the standoff is resolved diplomatically, it has already crippled the bilateral relationship. This will have a long-term impact on Sino-Indian ties.

The bright side is, the standoff has enabled the two governments to begin to know each other. If one insists the other is a strategic menace, it will lead to a self-fulfilling of prophecy and eventually confrontation. But there is also a silver lining if the two sides can dispel their misunderstandings through communication and take measures to enhance official and people-to-people exchanges, so as to improve bilateral ties.


http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1057632.shtml



@NeonNinja @Khan Sahab @PaklovesTurkiye @Zibago @django @DESERT FIGHTER @Imran Khan @Zarvan @The Sandman @Narendra Trump @Spring Onion @haviZsultan@Windjammer @Umair Nawaz @Areesh @Azlan Haider @Moonlight @Burhan Wani @shahbaz baig @snow lake @MUSTAKSHAF @IceCold @KN-1 @Hassan Guy @Jf Thunder



@Muhammad bin Hamid @S.Y.A @Arsalan Zaheer @Major Sam @newb3e

@Taimoor Khan @friendly_troll96 @Mahmood-ur-Rehman

@Hareeb @Green Angel @Awi @abrar khan

@Kash_Ninja @Rafi @M.SAAD @Mrc @Wrada Bhatti @shahbaz baig @atya

@Azadkashmir @MUSTAKSHAF @Pakistani Fan @django @Taimoor Khan @Sinopakfriend @cirr

@pakistan army of mehdi @Eagle_Nest

I agree with the article we in India have little or no knowledge of China. Even educated people believe that China invaded India in 1962 without really knowing the cause and trigger.

I hope on claiming doklam we have truth on our side or else we are getting it again.

 

[dray]

We did learn from 1962 and shown them the results in 1967, but Pakistan doesn't seem to have learned from 1971.

I agree with the article we in India have little or no knowledge of China. Even educated people believe that China invaded India in 1962 without really knowing the cause and trigger.

I hope on claiming doklam we have truth on our side or else we are getting it again.

Truth was on our side even in 1962, just the understanding of the threats followed by planning and preparedness was missing due to a naive political leadership. Suspicion on his own army mixed with over-reliance on an equally naive defence minister made matters worse for the then political leadership as well as for the nation. Today we may not understand chinese language, but understand their intentions well, and have remained alert for more than 5 decades now.

 

[navtrek]

We did learn from 1962 and shown them the results in 1967, but Pakistan doesn't seem to have learned from 1971.



Truth was on our side even in 1962, just the understanding of the threats followed by planning and preparedness was missing due to a naive political leadership. Suspicion on his own army mixed with over-reliance on an equally naive defence minister made matters worse for the then political leadership as well as for the nation. Today we may not understand chinese language, but understand their intentions well, and have remained alert for more than 5 decades now.

Not really bro just read our own handrsonbrooks report and you will just understand whose mistake it was.

 

[dray]

Not really bro just read our own handrsonbrooks report and you will just understand whose mistake it was.

That report mostly criticized the lack of planning & preparedness before taking up forward policy, which our military reports even before the war confirmed. But attempting to claim what is legally ours was not wrong.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

That report mostly criticized the lack of planning & preparedness before taking up forward policy, which our military reports even before the war confirmed. But attempting to claim what is legally ours was not wrong.

According to the Henderson-Brooks report, the Indian Army set up military outposts beyond the MacMahon Line in undisputed Chinese territory, after which Nehru ordered the Indian Army to throw the Chinese forces out of that territory. Which was the entire cause of the war.

Dhola Post that triggered war was on China's side of McMahon Line - Business Standard

 

[dray]

According to the Henderson-Brooks report, the Indian Army set up military outposts beyond the MacMahon Line in undisputed Chinese territory, after which Nehru ordered the Indian Army to throw the Chinese forces out of that territory. Which was the entire cause of the war.

Dhola Post that triggered war was on China's side of McMahon Line - Business Standard

And China was well inside our Aksai chin.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

And China was well inside our Aksai chin.

Even from that perspective, it never triggered the war. Not according to the Indian Army's own internal reports, who place the start of the war with India's Forward Policy in the NE, beyond the MacMahon Line.

 

[dray]

Even from that perspective, it never triggered the war. Not according to the Indian Army's own internal reports, who place the start of the war with India's Forward Policy in the NE, beyond the MacMahon Line.

Sure China illegally occupying Aksai Chin didn't start the war, it was the Indian response, right? In fact Nehru's forward policy also didn't start the war, it was Nehru's lack of planning and preparation and ignoring several warnings from the military for reinforcements in anticipation of an imminent Chinese attack, that caused the war. Nehru presented an opportunity to the enemy for an easy win, and the enemy took it. Even if India was maintaining half the number of Chinese troops in defensive role in those terrains, no attack would have happened. Another problem was Nehru's opinion about maintaining an army, he didn't even wanted one, hence no modernization in equipment happened after WWII, that also triggered the enemy to score an easy win.

 

[SarthakGanguly]

Sure China illegally occupying Aksai Chin didn't start the war, it was the Indian response, right? In fact Nehru's forward policy also didn't start the war, it was Nehru's lack of planning and preparation and ignoring several warnings from the military for reinforcements in anticipation of an imminent Chinese attack, that caused the war. Nehru presented an opportunity to the enemy for an easy win, and the enemy took it. Even if India was maintaining half the number of Chinese troops in defensive role in those terrains, no attack would have happened. Another problem was Nehru's opinion about maintaining an army, he didn't even wanted one, hence no modernization in equipment happened after WWII, that also triggered the enemy to score an easy win.

Nehru's encroaching idea was good. The implementation was pathetic. A swift operation could have eliminated the PRC forces initially. But the will was lacking.

Even from that perspective, it never triggered the war. Not according to the Indian Army's own internal reports, who place the start of the war with India's Forward Policy in the NE, beyond the MacMahon Line.

A British defined McMahon line should ideally not have defined the land of Mansarovar and Bharatvarsha. PRC should have been restricted to Tibet's borders. Beyond even if possible.
In fact, Indian forces should have helped the Kuomintang just enough so that the war drags on.

Too late.

But the future seems bright again.
All authoritarian regimes have collapsed into civil conflicts or barely functioning democracies.

According to the Henderson-Brooks report

This is a peculiar statement. It remains classified. And yet everybody has access to it.
Very logical.

Akshay Hind is Indian territory.