DOCSLIB.ORG

The Sino-Indian Border War 1962 New Perspectives

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Sino-Indian Border War 1962 New Perspectives The Sino-Indian Border War 1962 New Perspectives Jyotirmoy Banerjee / Jadavpur University, India A new volume, The Sino-Indian !ar of #$%&' New Perspectives, edited (y Amit )* +as ,upta and -oren. -üthi, provides fresh insi0hts into the (rie" #$%& (order war that set India1s non ali0ned policy teeterin0, (ut left the People1s )epublic of 2hina 3P)24 relatively unscathed* Eleven authors and twelve chapters survey the (ack0round, policies, and errors surroundin0 the event, usin0 (oth new and e7istin0 archival materials* Amon0 the novelties' Amit +as ,upta on India1s policy, +ai 2haowu on 2hina1s strate0y, and Payal Banerjee on the little 6nown wartime pli0ht of India1s 2hinese citi.ens* The #$%& (order dispute arose, in part, from the fact that ri0id frontiers were a !estern concept imposed on Asia, and whose after e"fects can still (e felt today* As recently as the mid&8#9, jin0oistic voices were heard in the standoff over 2hina1s road (uildin0 near the Bhutan (order in the Northeast, which threatened India1s 2hicken1s Neck corridor* :ther (ilateral irritations include the 2hina Pa6istan Economic 2orridor 32P52, a massive 2hinese investment in rival Pa6istan1s infrastructure4, 2hina1s opposition to (oth the inclusion of ;asood A.har 3the Pa6istani founder of Jaish e ;ohammad in <ashmir4 on a UN terror list, and to India1s mem(ership in the Nuclear Suppliers1 ,roup 3which see6s to B5)-INER <:--5, KALTER KRIEG = B5)-IN 2ENTER >:R 2:-+ WAR STU+IES &8#9 Jyotirmoy Banerjee The Sino-Indian Border War 1962 prevent nuclear proliferation, founded in response to India1s #$9? nuclear tests4* Yet a discussion of Sino-Indian relations must also re0ister the robust economic ties (etween the two nations A (ilateral trade of more than USB98 (illion annually, ma6in0 the P)2 a top trade partner of India A as well as joint military e7ercises in &8#%* >urthermore, periodic spi6es in (order tension have not seriously distur(ed the peace for decades* -oren. -üthi and Amit +as ,upta1s co-written CIntroductionC (e0ins with a careful survey of the issues, archives, and literature on the war, includin0 a useful narrative on the (order dispute from the #$th century to the out(rea6 of hostilities* They conclude that militarily ill-prepared India miscalculated the P)21s resolve, leadin0 to the disastrous war 3p*##4* Accordin0 to the lea6ed Denderson Brooks Bha0at )eport, India1s Intelli0ence Bureau A and not, as previously assumed, the army Aalso misled the 0overnment in their decision to 0o to war* The chapter1s reference to Neville ;a7well 3India1s 2hina !ar, #$98, which (lames Nehru's 1forward policy1 for the war4 omits his &8#? addition that for0ed British documents shaped India1s stand on the (order 3Neville ;a7well interview, India Today, E#*E*&8#?4* In a separate chapter, -üthi shows that while Indian Prime ;inister Jawaharlal Nehru supported the P)21s claim to a seat at the United Nations, he was alarmed at its irredentism in Ti(et and the A6sai 2hin (order re0ion* 2 B5)-INER <:--5, KALTER KRIEG = B5)-IN 2ENTER >:R 2:-+ WAR STU+IES &8#9 Jyotirmoy Banerjee The Sino-Indian Border War 1962 In his two chapters, +as ,upta s6etches the role of >orei0n Secretary Subimal +utt in shapin0 India1s (order policy* In April #$%8, the Nehru- Fhou Enlai (order talks failed to a0ree on a redrawin0 of the (order line, revealin0 the disunity amon0 India1s leaders* +as ,upta also shows how the war impacted Pa6istan1s re0ional policy, which Guickly turned in the direction of the P)2, includin0 a 0ift of no-man1s land in -ada6h to 2hina* But i" the #$9# Ban0ladesh -i(eration war irritated US Pa6istan relations 3despite <issin0er1s tilt to Pa6istan4, close cooperation also occurred* Pa6istan aided the US 2hinese thaw and helped to foment anti Soviet resistance in A"0hanistan* 2hinese aid in the form of missiles and nuclear technology helped Pa6istan twea6 the power im(alance with India* +ai 2haowu and Eric Dyer (oth see the initial 2hinese stance on the (order as "le7i(le* +ai ar0ues that India1s restriction of vital trade to Ti(et caused di""iculties for the 2hinese People1s -i(eration Army 3P-A4 there* The ,&#$ road runnin0 via India claimed A6sai 2hin to Ti(et, various (order spats, and the Ti(etan Uprisin0 in #$H$ 3durin0 which the +alai -ama escaped to India4 added to the Sino-Indian sGua((les* Fhou's #$%8 proposal to de facto recogni.e the ;c;ahon -ine 3the disputed (order line (etween India, 2hina, and Ti(et drawn up at the Simla 2onference in #$#?4, which India had accepted as fact (ut 2hina understood as provisional, in e7chan0e for the A6sai 2hin re0ion failed due to India1s insistence that 2hinese forces and 0overnment institutions vacate the A6sai 2hin re0ion first* !hile offerin0 new insi0hts into 2hina1s policy, +ai echoes ;a7well1s position on the causes of the war* 3 B5)-INER <:--5, KALTER KRIEG = B5)-IN 2ENTER >:R 2:-+ WAR STU+IES &8#9 Jyotirmoy Banerjee The Sino-Indian Border War 1962 >or Dyer, the P)21s 0rowin0 a00ression a0ainst (oth superpowers shaped its early fle7i(ility, (ut ;ao's radical turn would eventually defeat the more moderate 1sanhe yishao' policy* Dyer ar0ues that the P)2 mana0ed to settle (order issues with India1s nei0h(ours 3Burma, Nepal, Pa6istan4 (ut failed to impress India itself, despite the fact that public opinion in India viewed the British drawn (order as settled* 2hina1s war of Cself-defence and counter attackC arose out of this constellation* In his chapter, Paul ;c,arr maintains that that the United States and the United <in0dom wished to cultivate India as an ally in order to limit Soviet influence* !hile their ire over India1s li(eration o" ,oa in #$%# can (e understood as hypocritical, !ashin0ton and -ondon nonetheless stood (y India in its (order war with P)2* But with a US demand to lin6 the <ashmir dispute to lon0 term arms supply, India turned to ;oscow. Andreas Dilger discusses how the decision (y the Soviets to send military aid to India while denyin0 it to the P)2 may have an0ered Beijin0* ;oscow did not initially ta6e sides in the (order dispute, (ut later supplied India with ;i, &#s* Soviet participation in the conflict may have hardened the Sino-Indian faceoff and paved the way for 0reater US U< involvement in South Asia* Jovan Čavoš6i discusses the divided Afro-Asian reaction to the war, (orn of 2hinese pressure and India1s failure to inspire* !hile the mediation attempt in 2olom(o, Sri -an6a, failed, so too did the P)21s attempt to discredit India1s non ali0nment after Nehru had sought US military help* 4 B5)-INER <:--5, KALTER KRIEG = B5)-IN 2ENTER >:R 2:-+ WAR STU+IES &8#9 Jyotirmoy Banerjee The Sino-Indian Border War 1962 2hapters $ #& turn to India1s domestic scene* Imtia. :mar looks at the impact of the #$%& war on India1s constitution' >or the "irst time in independent India, a National Emer0ency was declared under Article EH&* The draconian +efence of India Act of +ecem(er #$%& had #H% rules 0overnin0 all aspects of daily life, and was identical to the British era +efence of India Act, which promulgated in #$#H, and then re enacted in #$E$ at the (e0innin0 of !orld !ar II to subdue the independence movement* It suspended all fundamental ri0hts of detainees, and was only lifted in #$%J* Part of :mar1s e7position, however, seems off-(eatK he also discusses emer0ency measures ta6en in the later decades* Subho Basu e7plores how the Act contri(uted to the repression of India1s communists and the subseGuent division in their ran6s* +urin0 the course of the (order dispute, the 2ommunist Party of India 32PI) split into moderates and radicals, leadin0 to the (irth of the more radical 2PI 3;ar7ist4 party in #$%?* Ironically, the provisions of the national emer0ency may have forced even moderate communists to turn radical. In his chapter, Payal Banerjee reveals the mistreatment of India1s ethnic 2hinese citi.ens, whose civil ri0hts were denied under an amended definition of Cforei0ner*C The war soon spawned the >orei0ner1s -aw and >orei0ner1s :rder, which led to the mass arrests of the local 2hinese population* ;any were sent to the +eoli camp in )ajasthan, others to local jails, or were deported* ;alice 0reeted them everywhere in India* >inally, Ja(in T* Jacob investi0ates the continued Indian paranoia a(out the P)2* Instead o" studyin0 their powerful adversary, as the US and the 5 B5)-INER <:--5, KALTER KRIEG = B5)-IN 2ENTER >:R 2:-+ WAR STU+IES &8#9 Jyotirmoy Banerjee The Sino-Indian Border War 1962 USS) did durin0 the 2old !ar, ne0lect of 2hina speci"ic e7pertise continues in India today* Dow many of India1s 2hina e7perts can read ;andarin, !u, Yue, or ;in ori0inalsL De also surveys the literature apportionin0 (lame for India1s fiasco. Ultimately, the (ook succeeds in throwin0 new li0ht on aspects of the policies surroundin0 the war* It also affords 6een perspectives on India1s domestic scene at the time* Professor +r* Jyotirmoy Banerjee, (orn #$?% in 2alcutta, India* )esearch >ellow, Jadavpur University, #$%$ #$98, -ecturer 3#$98 #$JE4, )eader 3#$JE #$$84, and Professor in the +epartment of International )elations since #$$#, department head, #$JH J%* ,uest professor 2alcutta University, #$JE #$J?* )ecipient of >ulbri0ht, Dum(oldt, ,oethe Institut, Erasmus ;undus, U,2 and other fellowships and with e7tensive research and teachin0 e7perience in the USA and Europe* Recommended itation: Jyotirmoy Banerjee, TD5 SIN: IN+IAN B:)+5) !A) #$%&* New Perspectives, ##/2#/&8#9, http'//www.(erliner6olle0*com/en/(log/sino- indian (order war #$%& new-perspectives 3please add the date of the last call to this pa0e in (rackets4* 6.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • FORTY YEARS of FOLLY What Caused the Sino-Indian Boundary Conflict and Why the Dispute Is Unresolved by Neville Maxwell [Publish
    N Maxwell from Critical Asian Studies March 2003. From http:// chinaindiaborderdispute.wordpress.com FORTY YEARS OF FOLLY What caused the Sino-Indian boundary conflict and why the dispute is unresolved By Neville Maxwell [Published in CRITICAL ASIAN STUDIES March 2003] Provided by the author to the archive at http:// chinaindiaborderdispute.wordpress.com India’s distrustful animus towards China is a toxic element in world politics, preventing development of what might have been the fruitful and long-lasting entente to which the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru confidently looked forward in the early 1950s, and which could have been a powerful stabilising factor for Asia. The hostility derives from the Indian political class’s wounded memory of their country’s humiliation in the brief, fierce border war of 1962, which Nehru himself misled them into perceiving as the outcome of Chinese aggression. It is a tragic – or perhaps tragic-comic – underlying truth that the border dispute is factitious, and would be readily resolvable if only India would follow the example of all China’s many other neighbours, and submit the issues to the normal diplomatic procedures for boundary settlement. The fortieth anniversary of the border war has shown again how ill-served the Indian political class is by those of its intelligentsia who write on that subject. Decades after the full story of the dispute and conflict emerged most of them still hawk the old, disproved falsehoods about an innocent India, victim of a calculated surprise act of aggression by an expansionist China;1 others creep backwards towards the truth which previously they denied, but their progress is crippled and cut short by their obligation of repeated prostrations to the memory of Nehru.2 Still others show a curious fickleness in their approach.
    [Show full text]
  • Britain and the Sino-Indian War of 1962
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Repository@Nottingham The Long Shadow of Colonial Cartography: Britain and the Sino-Indian War of 1962 PAUL M. McGARR Department of American and Canadian Studies, University of Nottingham, UK ABSTRACT This article examines British responses to the Sino-Indian border war of 1962. It illustrates how, in the years leading up to the war, Britain’s colonial legacy in the Indian subcontinent saw it drawn reluctantly into a territorial dispute between Asia’s two largest and most powerful nations. It analyses disagreements in Whitehall between the Foreign Office and Commonwealth Relations Office over the relative strength of India and China’s border claims, and assesses how these debates reshaped British regional policy. It argues that the border war was instrumental in transforming Britain’s post-colonial relationship with South Asia. Continuing to filter relations with India through an imperial prism proved unsatisfactory; what followed was a more pragmatic Indo-British association. KEY WORDS: India, China, Sino-Indian border, Foreign Office, Commonwealth Relations Office. If two giant countries, the biggest countries of Asia, are involved in conflict, it will shake Asia and shake the world. It is not just a little border issue, of course. But the issues surrounding it are so huge, vague, deep-seated and far-reaching, inter-twined even, that one has to think about this with all the clarity and strength at one’s command, and not be swept away by passion into action which may harm us instead of doing us good.
    [Show full text]
  • Myth and Misrepresentation in Australian Foreign Policy Menzies and Engagement with Asia
    BenvenutiMyth and Misrepresentation and Jones in Australian Foreign Policy Myth and Misrepresentation in Australian Foreign Policy Menzies and Engagement with Asia ✣ Andrea Benvenuti and David Martin Jones In 1960 the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party, Gough Whitlam, declared that Australia “has for ten years missed the opportunity to interpret the new nations to the old world and the old world to the new na- tions.”1 Throughout the 1960s, Labor spokesmen attacked the foreign policy of Sir Robert Menzies’s Liberal–Country Party coalition government (1949– 1966) for both its dependence on powerful friends and its alleged insensitivity to Asian countries.2 This criticism of Liberal foreign policy not only persisted in later decades but also became the prevailing academic and media ortho- doxy.3 As we show here, Labor’s criticism constitutes the basis of a tenacious political myth that demands critical reevaluation. Menzies’s political opponents and, subsequently, his academic critics have claimed that his attitude toward Asia was permeated by suspicion and conde- scension. From the 1970s, an inchoate Labor left and academic understand- ing contended that conservative Anglo-centrism “had placed Australia on the losing side of almost every external engagement from the Suez Crisis to Viet- nam.”4 A decade later, analysts writing in the context of the Labor-driven doc- trine of “enmeshment” with Asia reinforced this emerging foreign policy or- 1. Gordon Greenwood and Norman Harper, eds., Australia in World Affairs 1956–1960 (Melbourne: Cheshire, 1963), p. 96. 2. See, for instance, Mads Clausen, “‘Falsiªed by History’: Menzies, Asia and Post-Imperial Australia,” History Compass, Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sino-Indian Border Dispute: Implications of China's Economic
    The Sino-Indian Border Dispute: Implications of China’s Economic Reforms on the 1987 Border Conflict By Kunsang Gyurme Submitted to Central European University Department of International Relations and European Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in International Relations and European Studies Supervisor: Indre Balcaite Word Count: 16,599 CEU eTD Collection Budapest, Hungary 2016 Abstract This thesis builds on the existing works on the conflictual Sino-Indian relationship since birth of respective nations to the late 1980s. The first part of this thesis aims to examine the Sino-Indian relationship in two periods, 1947-1962 and 1978-1987. It investigates how two similar conflicts at the same border had different outcomes. I focus on the existing literature to determine the various factors that led to conflict in both periods. By employing the comparative political method, I show that economic interdependence factor was the variable that deescalated border conflict in 1987. The second part of the thesis applies the liberal view of economic interdependence and theory of trade expectations in the Sino-Indian case of the late 1980s. I argue that economic interdependence can explain the absence of war between the two nations. It shows that China’s economic reform and “open poor policy” had a huge impact on China’s prioritizing foreign trade and economic development since the reform was closely linked to the survival of communist regime. Thus China chose cooperation over war in the border conflict with India. As a result, border conflict between India and China did not escalate into a fully-fledged war in 1987.
    [Show full text]
  • Recent Publications (Articles, Books, Journals)
    HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Volume 7 Number 1 Himalayan Research Bulletin Article 7 Spring 1987 Recent Publications (Articles, Books, Journals) Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya Recommended Citation . 1987. Recent Publications (Articles, Books, Journals). HIMALAYA 7(1). Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol7/iss1/7 This Research Article is brought to you for free and open access by the DigitalCommons@Macalester College at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. "The Coming of Macchendranath to Nepal: Comments from a Comparative Point of View." By N.J. Allen. Vol. I, Oxford University Papers on India. Edited by N.J. Allen, R. Gombrich, T. Raychaudhuri & G. Rizvi. Delhi: O.U.P., 1986. pp.75-102. "Mating Patterns among the Dirang Monpa of West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh." By Saumitra Barua. In Current Anthropology, April 1986, vol. 27, no. 2. pp. 188-190. "Himalayan Polynandry: Bondage Among Women in Jaunsar Bawar." By Jayoti Gupta. In Chains of Servitude: Bondage and Slavery in India. Edited by Utsa Patnaik and Manjari Dingwaney. New York: Apt Books, Inc., 1986. pp. 258-28l.ISBN 0-86131-490-5. $40. "Tooth Size Variation in Prehistoric India." By John R. Lukacs. In American Anthropologist, vol. 87, no. 4, December 1985. pp. 811-825. "Natural Background of the Yak: Transhumance in the Langtang Valley, Nepal Himalaya." By Yugo ono and Ayako Sadakane.
    [Show full text]
  • India's Wars: the Indo-Pakistani Wars and the India-China Border Conflict
    India’s Wars: The Indo-Pakistani Wars and the India-China Border Conflict Takenori Horimoto Since India gained its independence in 1947, it has waged four wars intermittently by the 1970s against Pakistan (Indo-Pakistani Wars) and China (the India-China War). While all of these wars were caused by territorial disputes, the termination of the wars was largely influenced by internal factors as well as the contemporary international situation on each occasion. I. Indo-Pakistani Wars 1. The Kashmir dispute as a root cause of the Indo-Pakistani Wars The Kashmir dispute was the root cause of the Indo-Pakistani Wars. The map below shows all of South Asia (inset) and Kashmir. Pakistan and India in the maps were formerly integrated and made up British India. Kashmir was also a part of British India, and a “princely state” ruled by the Maharaja. Although the Maharaja was Hindu, about three-fifths of the population of the princely state was Muslim (followers of Islam). The difference in religion between the Maharaja and the population was the starting point of the Kashmir dispute, and remains so to the present.1 India and Pakistan were respectively founded by being partitioned and gaining independence from British India in August 1947. When being partitioned and gaining their independence, the territory was divided into India, which was predominantly Hindu, and Pakistan, which was predominantly Muslim. As a result, Pakistan consisted of East and West Pakistan, where many Muslims lived. In the case of Kashmir, the Maharaja was granted a degree of authority to decide whether to belong to India or Pakistan.
    [Show full text]
  • Border Conflict and Tibet: the Asian Giants and Their Ih Story of Power Struggle Evan Towt SIT Study Abroad
    SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad SIT Digital Collections Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection SIT Study Abroad Spring 2010 Border Conflict and Tibet: The Asian Giants and Their iH story of Power Struggle Evan Towt SIT Study Abroad Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection Part of the Asian Studies Commons, and the Defense and Security Studies Commons Recommended Citation Towt, Evan, "Border Conflict and Tibet: The Asian Giants and Their iH story of Power Struggle" (2010). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 882. https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/882 This Unpublished Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the SIT Study Abroad at SIT Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection by an authorized administrator of SIT Digital Collections. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Border Conflict and Tibet: The Asian Giants and their History of Power Struggle Towt, Evan Academic Director: Onians, Isabelle Senior Faculty Advisor: Hubert Decleer Franklin and Marshall College Anthropology Asia, India, Himachal Pradesh, McLeod Ganj Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Tibetan/Himalayan Studies, SIT Study Abroad, Spring 2010 “You are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody." -Jean Jacques Rousseau’s Defender of Anarchy A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality 2 Abstract The South Asian world is dominated by India and China, their combined populations equaling almost a full half of humankind. In 1962, the two countries clashed over their border.
    [Show full text]
  • India's China War
    GEORGE ANTHOMY NEVILLE, MAXWELL INDIA'S CHINA WAR Now, it is a question of fact whether this village or that village or this little strip of territory is on their side or on our side. Normally, wherever these are relatively petty disputes, well, it does seem rather absurd for two great countries. immediately to rush at each other's throats to decide whether two miles of territory are on this side or on that side, and especially two miles of territory in the high mountains, where nobody lives. But where national prestige and dignity is involved, it is not the two miles of territory, it is the nation's dignity and self- respect that becomes involved. And therefore this happens. Jawaharlal Nehru, Lok Sabha, September 4th, 1959 JONATHAN CAPE THIRTY BEDFORD SQUARE LONDON FIRST PUBLISHED 1970 © 1970 BY NEVILLE MAXWELL JONATHAN CAPE LIMITED 30 BEDFORD SQUARE, LONDON, WCI ISBN O 224 61887 3 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY EBENEZER BAYLIS & SON LIMITED THE TRINITY PRESS, WORCESTER, AND LONDON BOUND BY G. & J. KITCAT LIMITED, LONDON I • COLLISION COURSE 89 88 INDIA'S CHINA WAR even before that. If officials in Peking had looked into the boundary cross Aksai Chin —two of these might have reached its westernmost question in the western sector in the early 1950s they would have noted edge but they went nowhere near the road. The first the Indian Govern­ that Indian maps showed an indeterminate claim which included Aksai ment learned about that was from gratified notices in the Chinese press Chin. But these maps—in which the boundary was shown only by an about the completion of this major road-building feat.
    [Show full text]
  • China Borders: Settlement and Conflicts—Selected Papers, by Neville Maxwell, Newcastle Upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014, Pp
    China Borders: Settlement and Conflicts—Selected Papers, by Neville Maxwell, Newcastle Upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014, pp. 289, £49.99 Mandip Singh* This book is a compilation of papers written by journalist Neville Maxwell over a career span of five decades. Those who look at China– India relations closely, notably the border dispute, will know that Neville Maxwell is not new to the India–China border discourse. Accredited to The Times, he was their South Asia correspondent in New Delhi during the tumultuous years from 1959–62, when he extensively covered the Indo-China War of 1962. A self-confessed fan of Nehru till he revisited the India–China War, Maxwell wrote his side of the war account in the well-acclaimed book, India’s China War, first published in 1970. That book was a clear indictment of Nehru and his government for the debacle of 1962. This book, a compilation of his writings in various journals/ publications after 1962, only reinforces his viewpoint. The book is laid out in four broad parts, in which Neville Maxwell reiterates that China has been magnanimous, passive and accommodating in its dealings on border issues with its neighbours. He picks on the examples of India, Russia and Hong Kong to buttress his argument. In his view, not only has China been wronged but also that she has been a victim of scheming Western policies, often to the extent of trickery. To a China watcher today, * Brigadier Mandip Singh is a serving officer presently posted in Army Training Command, Shimla. The views expressed here are his own and do not represent that of the Indian Army or the Government of India.
    [Show full text]
  • Between Geostrategic Rivalry and Economic Competition Emergence of a Pragmatic India-China Relationship
    China Perspectives 2008/3 | 2008 China and its Continental Borders Between Geostrategic Rivalry and Economic Competition Emergence of a Pragmatic India-China Relationship Jean-François Huchet Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/4073 DOI: 10.4000/chinaperspectives.4073 ISSN: 1996-4617 Publisher Centre d'étude français sur la Chine contemporaine Printed version Date of publication: 1 July 2008 Number of pages: 50-67 ISSN: 2070-3449 Electronic reference Jean-François Huchet, « Between Geostrategic Rivalry and Economic Competition », China Perspectives [Online], 2008/3 | 2008, Online since 01 July 2011, connection on 28 October 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/4073 ; DOI : 10.4000/chinaperspectives.4073 © All rights reserved Special feature s e v Emergence of a Pragmatic i a t c n i e India-China Relationship h p s c (1) r Between Geostrategic Rivalry and Economic Competition e p JEAN-FRANÇOIS HUCHET This article analyses the extent of the China-India diplomatic thaw since the early 1990s. Without ignoring the existence of multiple cooperation channels, or seeking to minimise the importance of the considerable achievements realised in recent years by the two governments towards normalising their relations, the article show that relations between the two Asian giants remain hamstrung by a series of geostrategic and economic rivalries. Despite fast growth in trade and in specific areas of economic cooperation, the normalisation of ties between Beijing and New Delhi does not yet constitute a genuine strategic partnership. “In public, India and China expressed undying friend - ertheless interesting, given the growing weight of the two ship, but on the ground each was working to protect Asian giants on the world arena, to consider the nature and its strategic interests.” (2) evolution of this bilateral relationship in the context of inter - national relations and global trade.
    [Show full text]
  • Looking East to Look West
    LOOKING EAST TO LOOK WEST Looking East half title page.indd 1 10/9/09 9:18 AM The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) was established as an autonomous organization in 1968. It is a regional centre dedicated to the study of socio-political, security and economic trends and developments in Southeast Asia and its wider geostrategic and economic environment. The Institute’s research programmes are the Regional Economic Studies (RES, including ASEAN and APEC), Regional Strategic and Political Studies (RSPS), and Regional Social and Cultural Studies (RSCS). ISEAS Publishing, an established academic press, has issued almost 2,000 books and journals. It is the largest scholarly publisher of research about Southeast Asia from within the region. ISEAS Publishing works with many other academic and trade publishers and distributors to disseminate important research and analyses from and about Southeast Asia to the rest of the world. 00 Prelims-i-ix.indd 2 10/2/09 11:31 AM LOOKING EAST TO LOOK WEST Lee Kuan Yew’s Mission India SUNANDA K. DATTA-RAY P E N G U I N V I K I N G INSTITUTE OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES PENGUIN BOOKS Singapore India Looking East title pagenew.indd 1 10/9/09 9:19 AM First published in Singapore in 2009 by ISEAS Publishing Institute of Southeast Asian Studies 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Pasir Panjang Singapore 119614 for distribution in all countries except India. E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg This is a reprint edition published by arrangement with the original publisher, Viking, Penguin Books India, and for sale outside the Indian Subcontinent.
    [Show full text]
  • Neville Maxwell China's India
    Neville Maxwell CHINA’S INDIA WAR How the Chinese Saw the Conflict By Neville Maxwell (May 2011) The Chinese leadership was slow to recognise the seriousness of the problems presented to it by the Nehru government’s border policy. Soon after the establishment of the Peoples Republic in 1949 its government had recognised border settlement as a problem involving all its numerous neighbours, and had evolved a strategy to deal with it: forswearing irredentist attempts to regain “lost lands”, China would accept the border alignments with which history had left it, and negotiate where necessary to formalise and confirm them, in the spirit of “Mutual understanding and mutual accommodation”. In the case of India, this meant that India should retain the territory, up to what they called the McMahon Line, which the British imperialists had seized in their final expansionist foray. Zhou Enlai gave assurances to that effect in his several meetings and exchanges with Jawaharlal Nehru in the 1950s, and Beijing foresaw no territorial dispute with India. Their first inkling of troubles ahead came in 1958 when Beijing found itself accused of “aggression” (an extreme and loaded term in diplomatic parlance) when Indian border guards found a Tibetan/Chinese presence in small tracts claimed by India in what became known as the middle sector of the border. Then an Indian patrol was detected and detained in Chinese-claimed and -occupied territory in the western sector. And in August 1959 an armed clash at a point called Longju on the McMahon Line, in which an Indian border guard was killed, set off an outburst of public and official suspicion and anger against China, not only in India but in the West generally and, critically, in Moscow.
    [Show full text]