Ishtiaq Alam Liminal Space

The Sino-Indian Border War of 1962 was a major event in the geo-politics of South Asia yet it has not been adequately explored by contemporary research in the field. The significance of the Sino-Indian border war is often overlooked, mostly because of its overlap with the Cuban Missile Crisis, but this three week war has much to offer in showing the transition new born nations of the 20^th century made from colonialism into the Cold War. Therefore, I propose the border war was a significant milestone in the development of the Cold War in Asia because the subsequent years after the war marked the militarization of the India-China border in the northwest (Aksai Chin & Kashmir and Jammu) as well as the northeast (Tibet & Assam frontiers).

 Before I can illustrate the expansion of the Cold War in Asia after the Sino-Indian Border War, the pre-war international relations and diplomatic conditions in South Asia must be ascertained. This section, which will comprise the first half of the paper, will endeavor to determine whether the border war can be categorized as a proxy war. To do so, I will rely on Maxwell Neville’s India’s China War and Mohammad Ali’s Cold War in the High Himalayas accompanied by primary sources such as treaties, agreements and personal correspondences between key figures i.e. Nehru, Prime Minister of India. I will also utilize journal articles to highlight strengths and weaknesses of the above sources.

Maxwell Neville writes about conflicting history of the border and detailed accounts of army movements and maneuvers. While his work is possibly the most comprehensive and seminal text about the border war, it suffers from age as it was published 40 years ago and cannot consider the documents that became available after the end of the Cold War. On the other hand, Mohammed Ali’s more recent work sheds light on the covert operations that state actors (India, China, Pakistan, and United States) engaged in to thwart their enemies. However, Ali only uses Indian and American sources so his analysis is also limited in scope. Despite not being able to use Chinese documents, which are not available to the public, Ali’s book begs the question what was the Soviet Union’s role as this conflict unfolded? He only mentions the USSR in passing.

The second half of the paper will emphasize the immediate and subsequent consequences of the border war in relation of the Cold War and Sino-Indian relations. I intend to examine the impact of the war within the stretch of one decade after the war. I chose to fence this paper until 1972 because I suspect that year is another major milestone in the development of the Asian Cold War. Nixon’s visit to China changed the power dynamics and state alliances toward a new direction, and so it is beyond the scope of my study. I will continue to use Ali to discuss the post-war militarization of the border. Other books such as Lorenz Luthi’s Sino-Soviet Split, Chen Jian’s Mao’s China and the Cold War, and anthology called The India-China Relationship edited by Frankel and Hardings will be used as supplements to connect the overarching events and state policies directly to the burgeoning conditions after the border war. As before, I will insert pertinent information from primary sources and journal articles whenever possible.

Ultimately, the purpose of this project is to generate greater understanding and interest about the Sino-Indian Border War. Even prior to the border conflict, the Cold War in Asia was ubiquitous. I do not suggest the 1962 war triggered the Asian Cold War; however, it nonetheless propagated the phenomenon by pulling India and China into overt alliances and militarization. Therefore, the 1962 war was a moment of restive possibilities and a point of departure for a new phase of the Cold War. This new face of the Asian Cold War presented an intensification, militarization and greater superpower involvement in the ideological and strategic confrontations in the Subcontinent by India and China.

Autobiographical Statement!

Punctuality has never been a strength of mine. As a matter of fact, neither has been discipline nor efficient time management. However, over committing to unusually large of amounts of really unnecessary and pointless extracurricular activities is a specialty of mine. An plethora of excess responsibilities and skills are, in fact, my bread and butter, and the stuff I thrive on. At this point, I know what you are thinking, mostly because it is what I had been thinking for some time now, especially after enrolling in the year long thesis seminar class with Professor Lee Quinby. It is fairly obvious that my deficiencies are painfully complimentary with my tendencies, that they are overly counterproductive, most important of all, that they cannot lead to a sustainable lifestyle. Suffice to say, I am at a Crisis!

Did you know the Chinese expression of the word ‘crisis’ is a combination of two characters? The First is danger and the second opportunity. Now, what does this seemingly random fact has anything to do with my predicament or even my thesis project, you wonder. Am I spinning wild tales? And leading you in circuitous routes to nowhere? I doubt it. To be honest, I am not quite certain why I chose to include it but I sense it is relevant and important. Rest assured, it will come to me in due time. Now let’s move on to the belly of this autobiographical statement.

My paper topic is an extension of a paper I wrote for my Modern China class last fall. That paper dealt with the historical causes of the Sino-Indian border disputes that culminated into a short border war fought in 1962. The war coincided with the Cuban Missile Crisis, the greatest point of tension and the closest the United States and the Soviet Union came to nuclear war in the Cold War. Because of this overlap, the Sino-Indian Border War does not receive much attention in its impact in expanding the Cold War in the Asian continent to new heights, and dramatically changing the geo-political power dynamics of the region.

Until then, India followed a policy of non-alignment, refusal to ally with any of the superpowers. Prior to the war, China had its own limitations in activity in the Cold War. With the hostile Sino-Soviet relations and an ongoing American embargo, China became entangled in the Cold War to protect its territories. Considering these conditions, it was not in the best interest for both China and India to not go to war, yet they did. So why did Nehru chose military action despite Zhou Enlai’s reassurance to resolve the conflict diplomatically? How did it change Sino-Indian relations in the interplay of the Cold War? In what ways, the involvement of the international community worsened or stabilized the region? Can the border war be classified as an unconventional proxy war? These are questions come up upon a closer re-examination of the 1962 border war.    

The war can be classified as a crisis. According to the Chinese derivation of the word, the war was without a doubt dangerous in destabilizing the region but also presented set of opportunities to re-define their boundaries. As fledgling nations, Indian and China were compelled to protect their territorial sovereignty so the border war exemplifies the dangerous opportunities for the two Asian powers.

By that token, this thesis project resembles a similar scenario, albeit in an exponentially smaller scale, in my own life. The thesis project and all the other things have I gotten involved in are a set of dangerous opportunities. Will I be able to get my act together and complete this project in due time or am I going to let my tendencies dictate, as they have prior, to disaster? I have a lot of on my plate, some responsibilities important, others scarcely so but nonetheless needs to be done. It is a gamble and sheer recklessness on my part but I wish to grow through this endeavor, and learn to better manage my life and activities. To mature as a researcher would be wonderful but I would be happier still if I matured as a person because as Davi said so eloquently in class (and I paraphrase), research is not only a skill, it is a lifestyle. Don’t let me tell you of my successes or failures. You, faithful readers, are the ones who will pass the ultimate judgment.