Sino-Indian War, 1962

In October 1962, China attacked India in NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh) and Ladakh. Thus, a war between the two countries started, which ended in a military debacle for India. The Chinese had a geographical advantage as well as superior arms. Nehru turned to the USA and Britain for help. The Western powers—the USA as well as Britain—pledged support to India and were already flying arms to India. In November 1962, China made a unilateral declaration of its withdrawal. But China continued its occupation of a large chunk of Ladakh—a much coveted strategic link between Sin Kiang and southern China.

India’s diplomatic efforts to pressurise China to return the territories yielded no results. Even the Afro-Asian mediation by Indonesia, Cambodia, Burma, UAR, Ghana and Ceylon to find a peaceful solution of Sino-Indian border dispute, at Colombo in December 1962, failed to get a favourable response from China. In 1964, China tested its first nuclear explosion, further alarming India.