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
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. Some contend that the Maharaja dreamed of gaining
independence, without making his decision clear. However, when Srinagar, the capital of
the princely state, nearly fell to the militia which were sent in by Pakistan soon after its
independence and flooded into Kashmir, the Maharaja made his ultimate choice, on October
2, 1947, to join India.
1 Regarding the Kashmir dispute, this paper mainly referred to the following publications:
Takenori Horimoto, 1970 Nendai Iko no Kashimiiru Mondai [The Kashmir Dispute Since the 1970s],
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 1992. Minami Ajia no Chiiki Funso: 1970 Nendai Iko no Kashimiiru
Mondai [Regional Conflicts in South Asia: The Kashmir Dispute Since the 1970s], Minami Ajia Kenkyu
[Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies], Vol. 5 (October 1993).
Kashimiiru wo Meguru Inpabei no Teiritsu [Trilateral Contest between India, Pakistan, and the United
States Over Kashmir], Kaigai Jijyo [Journal of World Affairs], Vol. 50, No. 2 (February 2002).
Kashimiiru Mondai no Yukue: Inbei no Kakushitsu [Prospects of the Kashmir Dispute: India-U.S.
Discord], Tokyo Shimbun (Sunday edition), October 27, 2002.
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(Map of Kashmir)
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AB%E3%82%B7%E3%83%9F%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB#/
media/File:Kashmir_map_big.jpg
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First, in the case of Pakistan, what is important is that the two-nation theory provided
the basis of the founding of Pakistan, and Islam became the principle of national unity. The
two-nation theory maintained that as long as two ethnic groups existed in British India under
British rule, namely, Hindus and Muslims, then it was logical that two nations be created. A
multiethnic nation like Pakistan needed a principle to unify the people. Otherwise, there was a
risk of the new nation splitting up.
According to this theory, it follows that the predominantly Muslim region became
Pakistan and the predominantly Muslim region of Kashmir, including the part of Kashmir
(state of Jammu and Kashmir [JK state]) that was in India, belonged to Pakistan. From the
point of view of fostering national unity, it is not in Pakistans interests to abandon the two-
nation theorywhich emphasizes Muslim ethnicityas a relic of the past. It can be said
that Pakistans strong call for settling the Kashmir dispute itself has suppressed the domestic
factors that would lead to Pakistans split.
Meanwhile, the Indian National Congress group that led the Indian independence movement
upheld the idea of ethnic homogeneity, making secularism (separation of religion and state)
the principle of national unity. Secularism could be promoted, because it would not be abnormal
for the predominantly Muslim region of the JK state to belong to India, where approximately
80% of the population is Hindu, if secularism was the premise. If India acknowledged the right
of self-determination of Muslims in Kashmir, this would be the equivalent of recognizing the
two-nation theory. This in turn posed the risks of denying secularism, and might even bring
about the splitting up of the states. The Kashmir dispute therefore had symbolic significance
for India also in enhancing its national unity, since it has had to deal with various big and small
partition and independence movements at home since independence.
The Kashmir dispute is the greatest issue in the India-Pakistan relationship, and has
hindered the development of normal relations between the two countries. The Kashmir
dispute was the direct or indirect cause of the three wars that were fought between the two
in the past. Furthermore, largely because the relationship between these two major powers in
South Asia is not normal, international relations among nations in South Asia have tended to
be marked by instability.
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was that the two countries could not reach agreement on their most hotly contested issues,
including the specific method for withdrawing both countries forces, which was a prerequisite
for a national referendum, and the handling of Azad Kashmir on the Pakistani side.
2 Khurshid Hyder, Recent Trends in the Foreign Policy of Pakistan, The World Today, Vol. 22, No. 11
(November 1966).
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Union was severely clashing with at the time. The Tashkent Declaration indeed represented the
Soviet Unions first significant victory in the diplomatic battles over Asian issues.
3 Raj Thapar, All These Years, Seminar Publications, New Delhi, 1991, p. 336.
4 Interview with a journalist in foreign affairs on February 1, 1991 in New Delhi. In fact, The Blood
Telegram: 1971 War in Simply Decoded of September 19, 2013 stated, According to the CIAs mole in
Delhi, Indira Gandhi claimed that the Soviet Union had promised to counterbalance any Chinese military
actions against India. http://www.simplydecoded.com/2013/09/19/the-blood-telegram-1971-war/
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Indo-Pakistani Wars
The Indo-Pakistani Wars have been wars fought over Kashmir. While the third Indo-
Pakistani War is also called the Bangladesh Independence War, the Kashmir dispute was the
greatest issue of the Simla Accord that terminated the war. In 1999, a mini Indo-Pakistani War
as well as a conflict also known as the fourth Indo-Pakistani War broke out between India and
Pakistan. Kargil is on the India-Pakistan Line of Control. Indo-Pakistani Wars will continue to
break out over Kashmir, and the handling of the Kashmir dispute will continue to be a major
issue in the termination of those wars.
PAKISTAN
CONTROLLED
KASHMIR
INDIAN
CONTROLLED CHINA
KASHMIR
PAKISTAN
TIBET
PAKISTAN
INDIA SIKKIM CONTROLLED
KASHMIR
in dispute
The India-China territorial dispute traces back to the drawing of the McMahon Line.5
This border was demarcated by Britain and Tibet at the Simla Convention held from 1913
to 1914 between Britain (represented by Sir Henry McMahon), China, and Tibet in Simla, a
summer resort in northern India. Though the Peoples Republic of China has not acknowledged
the McMahon Line on the grounds that the Chinese Kuomintang government, which was
Chinas government at the time, did not sign the treaty, among other reasons, India has claimed
the line to be the border. As a consequence, AP State (which is administered by India and has
an area of 83,743 km2) has become a disputed area between India and China. The other major
5 For more information, see: Marie Izuyama, India-China Boundary Question: Old Issues and New
Development, NIDS Commentary, No. 49 (August 12, 2015).
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disputed area is Aksai Chin (administered by China; 37,555 km2) in northwestern Kashmir.
First, I begin with AP State. China has maintained its position that AP State is South
Tibet, a part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Just a week before President Hu Jintaos visit
to India from November 20, 2006, the Chinese Ambassador to India, Sun Yuxi, in an interview
on Indian TV, stated that, Our position is that the whole of the state of Arunachal Pradesh is
Chinese territory. The Indian Minister of External Affairs, Pranab Mukherjee, immediately
refuted the claim, stating that AP State is wholly a part of India.
Why does China care so much about AP State? The McMahon Line is said to have
expanded the part of British India in this area (the current area of AP State) northward and
pushed its frontier out 60 miles (some 100 km) towards Tibet.6 As a result of this expansion,
Tawang was incorporated into British India. Although the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA)
invaded AP State during the India-China War in 1962, the PLA stopped after advancing roughly
60 miles, and later returned back to the existing Line of Control. In addition to territorial
claims, it is believed that China wishes to have control of Tawang in particular, in western
AP State, close to Bhutan. Tawang, home to spectacular temples, is the next most holy site
for Tibet Buddhism after Lhasa, and is the birthplace of the 6th Dalai Lama. When the 1959
Tibet Uprising forced the current (14th) Dalai Lama to flee Lhasa, Tibet, he transited Tawang
en route to exile in India. China is unlikely to relinquish its hold on Tawang because of its
political implications in connection with the issue of the next Dalai Lama, among others.
Meanwhile, China has de facto control of Aksai Chin in the western part of the Indian
subcontinent. Furthermore, the adjacent Trans-Karakoram Tract (5,800 km2) in northern
Kashmir is a disputed area between India and China. In other words, under the Sino-Pakistan
Agreement signed on March 2, 1963, Pakistan transferred control over this area to China,
with the condition that the transfer would be effective only until the settlement of the Kashmir
dispute. India lodged protests with both countries on the same day, and still claims the area as
Indian territory.
6 Neville Maxwell, Indias China War, Natraj Publishers, 2013 (first edition 1970), p. 42.
7 Inder Malhotra, Ghosts of black November, The Indian Express, December 5, 2008. Brahma Chellaney,
The 1962 Chinese Invasion, Hindustan Times, April 2, 2007.
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In the first half of the 1950s, shortly after their founding, India-China relations were
referred to in India as Indians and Chinese are brothers (Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai). In 1954,
Indias first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Premier Zhou Enlai confirmed the Five
Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in a bilateral agreement,8 including mutual respect for
each others territorial integrity and sovereignty. Prime Minister Nehru felt that the agreement
recognized Chinas sovereignty over Tibet. In return, China would grant considerable
autonomy to Tibet.
India took pride in the fact that it was one of the earliest to endorse Chinas return to the
international community, being the first country outside of the Communist bloc to recognize
China (December 1949) and having invited China to the Bandung Conference (1955).
Nonetheless, the India-China border dispute began to surface from around this time, and the
bilateral relationship started to deteriorate following the 1959 Tibet Uprising and the 14th
Dalai Lamas exile to India.
When Premier Zhou Enlai visited India in 1960, he informally proposed a barter deal to
India in which India would possess AP State in return for Chinas possession of Aksai Chin.
The barter deal fell through, however, because India claimed sovereignty over both regions.9
Additionally, from November 1961, India began to carry out its forwarding policy, a policy
of establishing forward military posts across the McMahon Line on the Chinese side.
In light of these developments, China waged the India-China War, anticipating that the
worlds attention would be fixed on Cuba as a result of the worsening of U.S.-Soviet relations
due to the Soviet Unions construction of missile sites in Cuba. China registered a strong
protest against India because the latter recognized the Dalai Lamas domestic exile in India
after the Tibet Uprising. Further still, with Prime Minister Nehrus Non-Alignment Movement
garnering worldwide praise, it is possible that China attempted to seize this opportunity to deal
a blow against this development.
The Soviet Union notified China about its missile site construction, partly to secure
Chinese support before the United States and the Soviet Union clashed and possibly even
went to war over the Cuban dispute. While there were signs that the China-Soviet relationship
was deteriorating around this time, the Soviet Union attached importance to gaining Chinas
endorsement. Pravda, the newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, referred
to China at the time as a brother and a friend, in stark contrast to its descriptions of the
United States.
In India, on the other hand, Prime Minister Nehru and other government leaders had
absolute faith in friendly India-China relations, despite their awareness that the bilateral
relationship was gradually worsening following the Tibet Uprising. Not even in their wildest
dreams did they think that China would invade India. Neither did India ever envision that the
8 Agreement between the Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of India on Trade and Intercourse
between the Tibet Region of China and India concluded between India (Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru) and China (Premier Zhou Enlai) in April 1954.
9 Sumit Ganguly, Chapter 4 India and China: Border Issues, Domestic Integration, and International
Security in Francine R. Frankel & Harry Harding ed., The India-China Relationship: What the United
States Needs to Know, Columbia University Press, 2004, p. 112.
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forwarding policy it was undertaking on this basis would invite Chinese retaliation. While
Prime Minister Nehru acknowledged Chinese sovereignty over Tibet,10 he expected a Chinese
policy that would grant a degree of autonomy to Tibet.
The difference in views between India and China over their border cannot be overlooked.
China regarded its border with India as an issue involving Tibet, and viewed AP State and
Aksai Chin through the prism of Tibet.11 In contrast, while India discerned that the Tibet issue
was intertwined with the bilateral border conflict, all India wished for was for Tibet to serve
as a buffer area between the two countries, similar to the period when the British ruled India.
The fact that China staged the India-China War based on Mao Zedongs concept can
also be inferred from the fact that China asked India for a ceasefire in late October, just as
the Cuban Missile Crisis was approaching its termination. In turn, fighting between India
and China began to subside gradually. The India-China War ultimately came to an end on
November 21, with China unilaterally declaring a ceasefire. In terms of the commencement of
wars, the question of which side started the war has important implications. In the case of the
India-China War, there is no mistake that China started the war.
At any event, the India-China Border Conflict left a negative impression on India,
namely, the perception that China betrayed Prime Minister Nehru who believed in the India-
China friendship (and Prime Minister Nehrus death two years later), and the fact of Indias
major defeat. In short, the conflict induced a deep-seated distrust towards China that has not
been easy to dispel.12,13
III. The Breakout and Termination of Wars in which India May be Involved
This paper has presented an overview of Indias four wars to date. The question now is
how Indias future wars might be terminated.
A distinguishing feature of Indias wars with Pakistan and China is that they broke out
during the Cold War period. It may be said that in all of these wars, the various motives and
aims harbored by the major powers at the time, including the United States and the Soviet
Union, ultimately led to the termination of the wars. In other words, the termination had much
10 India acknowledges this in the Agreement between the Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of
India on Trade and Intercourse between the Tibet Region of China and India concluded between India
(Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru) and China (Premier Zhou Enlai) in April 1954.
11 John W. Garver, Chinas Decision for War with India in 1962, in Robert S. Ross and Alastair Iain
Johnston, New Directions in the Study of Chinas Foreign Policy, Stanford University Press, 2005, p. 61.
12 For more information, see: Takenori Horimoto, Dai 2 Sho: Anbibarento na Inchu Kankei: Kyocho to
Keikai [Chapter 2 Ambivalent Relations of India and China: Cooperation and Caution], in Indo Dai San
no Okoku e [Indias Path to Becoming a Third Great Power], Iwanami Shoten, 2015 and Ambivalent
Relations of India and China: Cooperation and Caution, The Journal of Contemporary China Studies,
Vol. 3, No. 2 (October 2014), pp. 61-92
13 The details of the India-China War are still covered by a veil. The Indian government ordered Henderson
Brooks (lieutenant general) and P. S. Bhagat (brigadier) of the Indian Army to submit a report regarding
the India-China War, which is said to be strongly critical of the civil-military composition at the time.
However, the report is still classified even now, half a century since its publication, making it difficult to
evaluate and ascertain the civil-military history of India as it pertains to the India-China War. The Indian
magazine India Today (March 18, 2014) introduces a part of the report which Neville Maxwell has made
available on the Internet.
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to do with global-level developments, rather than a mere display of autonomy by India. This is
evident in the fact that the India-China War was interrelated with the Cuban Missile Crisis
that broke out at the same time, as well as the examples of the three Indo-Pakistani Wars.
As regards the termination of any future war in which India may be involved, two new
factors need to be considered.
The first of these is the development of India into a major power. Since the Cold War,
especially since the 2000s (2000-2009), Indian foreign policy has been implemented at three
levels, i.e., global, regional (Asia), and sub-regional (South Asia), with a view to becoming
a major world power. During the Cold War period, India was at most a major power in South
Asia.14 Today, it is a major power in Asia, and has its sights set on becoming a major world
power in the future. India is now a de facto nuclear state, and is strengthening its economic
and military powers.
India today perceives itself completely differently from the way it did in the Cold War
period, and is beginning to seek a different positioning by other countries. As a result, the
start and termination of a future war will likely take a different form than during the Cold War
period. In other words, it is very much possible that, as India develops into a major power,
the termination of any war in which India may be involved will have aspects considerably
different from those of the Cold War period.
Second, China or Pakistan will likely be the potential adversary in any future war
involving India. If India were to engage in a war with China or Pakistan, either of the two
countries will likely take moves that will be disadvantageous to India. Since the 1960s, China
and Pakistan have rapidly deepened their relationship, which has come to be called an all-
weather relationship. In any war against either China or Pakistan, it is expected that India will
have to constantly calculate the moves of both countries, both in the early and the last stages
of the war.
14 For more information, see: Horimoto, Josho: Gendai Indo no Taigai Senryaku: Sekai no Okoku wo
Shiko [Preface: External Strategy of Modern India: Becoming a Great World Power], in Indo Dai San no
Okoku e.
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