India China Border Dispute - A Perspective

China and India have been neighbors for as long asshowed naivety by not laying stress on the northern
history. The two nations were separated by theborders with China and also allowed Tibet to be
Himalayas which was a barrier between the twoengulfed by China. Thus Tibet as a buffer was lost
nations. Though some Chinese travelers did came tofor ever.
India, yet because of this massive Mountain rangeSensing that India could challenge China's supremacy
the people to people contact was minimal.the Chinese occupied vast tracts (30,000 sq miles) in
Over the centuries the Hindus lost power and wereLadakh and did not accept the McMahan line as a
successively governed by Muslim and British rulers.frontier in the East. The Shimla pact of 1914 earlier
The Chinese did have a massive expansion but soonattended by the representatives of Tibet, China and
became insular and fell back economically and allowedBritish on which India relied for an interpretation of
themselves to be exploited by the Japanese and thethe border with Tibet was ignored by the Chinese.
Western powers. Thus both nations were notLack of clear strategic insight on the part of India
masters of their own destiny. In 1947 India woncost India heavily and it was forgotten that even at
freedom with a non- violent movement led by Gandhithat conference the Chinese did not sign on the
and Mao led a resurgent Red Army to completedotted line.
domination by the communists and centralized power.Power rivalry led to the 1962 India China war and
Comparisons are odious-but the dawn of a newestablished China as the dominant power in Asia. The
beginning for both was ominous. China started atrend of keeping the fire burning and also as a
campaign of consolidation and rectification ofreminder of China's great power status has led to
'historical wrongs'. Tibet was the central piece withthe present Chinese incursions in Ladakh and
China invading and occupying the mountain regionArunachal Pradesh. India has not understood the
with the Indian leadership steeped in Gandhiangame of power politics. The Chinese will not settle
philosophy of non violence unable to help thethe border issue and at any time can stoke up the
Tibetans. The Dalai Lama had to flee Tibet and wasflames, as the Chinese have made assiduous plans
given asylum in India. This angered the Chinese whoand in contrast India appears as a weakling. A
started a policy of oppression against the Tibetancomplete change in the Indian thinking and the
people and more important against their culture.further development of the Indian armed might can
The occupation of Tibet brought the Chinese poweronly deter China. Historical blunders and lack of a
on to India's door step. India started a democraticstrategic concept to be a world power has cost India
process copied from Westminster and the leadershipdear.