Radio War Nerd EP #96 — Sino-India War of 1962

Guest: Aditya  

China and India have been trading hot words and menacing editorials this summer over a border dispute in Bhutan, where both Chinese and Indian forces have crossed borders and made threats. The roots of this go back to the little-known 1962 Sino-India War, which ended in humiliating defeat for Nehru. Fellow war nerd Aditya Velivelli, originally from Hyderabad, walks us through events in the 1950s between India and China, and the disastrous finalé in the 1962 war, which was fought on two vastly different border fronts: In India's far northeast frontier border with Tibet, and in the disputed Kashmir region in India's far northwest, in the Aksai Chin plateau.

Some useful maps:

1. Battlefronts in 1962 war: Kashmir region in NW (Aksai Chin); Arunachal Pradesh state in NE ("Southern Tibet" acc to China).

2. Close-up map of NW theater in Kashmir. Aksai Chin taken by China, highway linking Tibet with Xinjiang running through Aksai Chin.

3. Closeup map of NE theater in India's Arunachar Pradesh state (called "North East Frontier Area" or NEFA, in 1962). Worst battles took place in far west corner of Arunachar Pradesh, ie Bhutan's northeast edge.

4. Map of 2017 standoff in "tri-junction" area in Bhutan's far northwest

Total time: 2:14:10

Direct link to this episode's mp3 here. 

Suggested reading: 

"Himalayan Blunder" by JP Dalvi 

"India and the China Crisis" by Steven A Hoffman

 "1962: The War That Wasn't" by Shiv Kunal Verma