1st Edition

The Sino-Indian War of 1962 New perspectives

Edited By Amit R. Das Gupta, Lorenz M. Lüthi Copyright 2017
    258 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge India

    268 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge India

    268 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge India

    The Sino-Indian border war of 1962 forms a major landmark in South Asian, Asian and Cold War history. Among others, it resulted in an unresolved conflict permanently hindering rapprochement between China and India, the establishment of the Sino-Pakistani axis, the deepening of the Sino-Soviet split and had a lasting impact on Indian domestic affairs.

    This volume draws on new documentary evidence to re-evaluate perceptions, motivations and decision-making processes of both antagonists, but also of third powers immediately affected by the conflict. It also investigates the effect on India’s internal politics, its Constitution, the Communist Party of India and the fate of Indians of Chinese origin. Finally, it analyses how the conflict is viewed in India today and its ramifications for India–China relationship.

    A major intervention in the Asian historical landscape, this book will be indispensable to scholars and researchers of modern history, especially of modern South Asia and China, international relations, defence and strategic studies, international politics and government. It will also be useful for think-tanks and government agencies.

    Contents

     

    List of maps

    Acknowledgements

    Contributors

     

    Introduction

    LORENZ M. LUTHI AND AMIT R. DAS GUPTA

    PART 1 Bilateral perspectives

    1 India’s relations with China, 1945–4

    LORENZ M. LUTHI

    2 Foreign Secretary Subimal Dutt and the prehistory of the Sino-Indian border war

    AMIT R. DAS GUPTA

    3 From ‘Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai’ to ‘international class struggle’ against Nehru: China’s India policy and the frontier dispute, 1950–2

    DAI CHAOWU

    4 The strategic and regional contexts of the Sino-Indian border conflict: China’s policy of conciliation with its neighbours

    ERIC HYER

    PART 2 International perspectives

    5 The United States, Britain and the Sino-Indian border war

    PAUL MCGARR

    6 Pakistan and 1962

    AMIT R. DAS GUPTA

    7 The Soviet Union and the Sino-Indian border war, 1962

    ANDREAS HILGER

    8 Saving non-alignment: diplomatic efforts of major nonaligned countries and the Sino-Indian border conflict

    JOVAN CˇAVOŠKI

    PART 3 Domestic perspectives

    9 Constitution of India and the 1962 war emergency: institutional re-alignments

    IMTIAZ OMAR

    10 Manufacturing radicals: the Sino-Indian War and the repression of communists in India

    SUBHO BASU

    11 The Chinese in India: internment, nationalism, and the embodied imprints of state action

    PAYAL BANERJEE

    12 Remembering 1962 in India, 50 years on

    JABIN T. JACOB

     

    Index

    Biography

    Amit R. Das Gupta is Senior Researcher at the Universität der Bundeswehr München, Germany. Previously he was affiliated with the German Institute of the University of Amsterdam, the Institute for Contemporary History, Department Berlin, Foreign Office and Jacobs University Bremen. After a first book on West Germany’s South Asia policy between 1949 and 1966, he has authored a political biography of Foreign Secretary Subimal Dutt. Currently, he is writing a monograph on the impact of officers of the Indian Civil Services on Indian foreign policy after independence.

    Lorenz M. Lüthi is Associate Professor of History of International Relations at McGill University, Canada. His first book dealt with the Sino-Soviet Split and has been translated into Polish and Chinese. He has written on China, Vietnam, non-alignment, Germany and the socialist world during the Cold War. At present, he is working on an international history of the Cold Wars in Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

    ‘This book is an essential contribution to discussions on the India–China war of 1962, its origins and its aftermath. In twelve chapters and a comprehensive introduction, the editors have put together studies that answer most of the remaining questions about the conflict, put to rest many controversies, and shed light on the existing obstacles to better relations between Asia’s two largest countries and emerging world powers. This volume will be mandatory reading for politicians, historians and researchers in all the countries covered by the book.’

    Krishnan Srinivasan, Former Indian Foreign Secretary, Government of India

    ‘This excellent and timely volume revisits the Sino-Indian war of 1962 — a brief but immensely consequential conflict. Dasgupta and Luthi have brought together a group of fine scholars to examine afresh the causes and consequences of the conflict. The volume is particularly noteworthy for its attempt to situate the Sino-Indian war against a wider international backdrop of the Cold War and decolonisation. This book will be indispensable for scholars and general readers alike.’

    Srinath Raghavan, Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Studies, New Delhi, India

    ‘This important collection of original essays sheds fresh light on the origins, course, and consequences of one of the Cold War era's seminal — and yet most understudied — conflicts. The authors demonstrate the great value of history written from a truly international, multi-archival perspective. Highly recommended for all students of China, India, and, more broadly, the post-1945 world order.’

    Robert J. McMahon, Ralph Mershon Professor of History, Ohio State University, USA