It was on this day (November 21) in 1962 that the India-China war came to an end, with Beijing declaring ceasefire unilaterally — in the same fashion as it launched the military aggression unilaterally. The Chinese aggression has had a deep impact on India-China relationship since then. The war began against the backdrop of mutual trust between two socialist-oriented governments.
India and China had signed a five-point Panchsheel agreement for peaceful co-existence. Those were the years of an intense Cold War, with the US and the erstwhile USSR leading one bloc each following the Second World War. India became an advocate of non-aligned policies.
There was hope that China, as a fellow Asian power, would share these ideals. However, China had a different approach towards Indian territories — it gradually captured, consolidating through the 1962 war, and claimed the entire Arunachal Pradesh, describing it as South Tibet. China’s aggression on October 20, 1962, was described in India as the “betrayal” of New Delhi’s trust.
Even today, the memory of the 1962 war lingers, influencing India’s political and military strategies. It serves as a cautionary tale about the costs of misplaced trust and the importance of vigilance in international relations. Here are 10 key things about Beijing’s betrayal of New Delhi’s trust: China unexpectedly attacked India’s northeastern border and Ladakh on 20 October,1962, which popularly came to be known as Sino-India war of 1962.
