On October 20, 1962, the Chinese launched a two-pronged attack on India—in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line. This line drawn by the British is what India considers the border between what was then known as the North East Frontier Agency (today’s Arunachal Pradesh) and China. Part of the reason for this attack was Indian Prime Minister Nehru’s ill-conceived Forward Policy, which involved Indian forces pushing across the disputed line and setting up posts, and indulging in aggressive posturing. Despite pockets of heroic resistance, the ill-equipped, unprepared Indian forces were routed by the unexpected PLA onslaught.
The inept Indian political and military leadership was equally culpable for the rout, which ended a month later when China declared a unilateral ceasefire and withdrew its forces behind the line. Though the Chinese today remember it as just another border skirmish aimed at teaching the ‘’upstart Indians’’ a lesson, that attack broke Nehru, and probably led to his premature death two years later. It also left a scar on India’s strategic psyche which is yet to fully heal. Fifty-four years later, animosity and suspicion of each other’s motives still dictate bilateral relations and despite many talks, the border remains disputed. After the May 1998 India’s nuclear tests, a letter written by Prime Minister Vajpayee to US President Clinton referred to China’s 1962 aggression.
“To add to the distrust, that country has materially helped another neighbour of ours become a covert nuclear weapons state,” the letter said. Today, despite rapidly growing economic and military interactions, China’s unstinting support for Pakistan fuels Indian concerns, while Beijing frets over New Delhi’s growing military clout and its relationship with the US. Until and unless these issues are addressed frankly and transparently, the massive trust deficit between the two nations will continue to haunt bilateral relations.