1962: The War That Wasn't

by Shiv Kunal Verma

NEHRU’S MAO SHADOW Chairman Mao pulled off many a miracle in his lifetime and was one of the most if not the most influential personalities of the twentieth century. Where India was concerned, he repeatedly displayed the uncanny ability to second-guess Prime Minister Nehru, so much so, that when one looks back at the events, it’s almost as if the Chinese knew how the Indians would react to each and every move of theirs. As we have seen, after coming back from the dead, Mao’s Communist Chinese defeated the larger and vastly better equipped army of the Kuomintang. Realizing that the West was both physically and emotionally drained from World War II, and fully preoccupied with containing the Soviets, Mao pulled off what was perhaps the biggest post-War real estate coup by bringing both Sinkiang and Tibet into the Chinese fold. India, which was directly affected by this blatant Chinese expansionism, was the unknown entity in Mao’s scheme of things. Yet somehow, not only did the Indians quietly go along with the Chinese moves in Tibet, Mao even managed to get Nehru to endorse the Chinese takeover. The next logical step was to force the Indians onto the back foot, for the threat of the United States jumping into the fray was always a real one. Therefore, to keep the Indians off balance, Mao created a border dispute with India where previously none existed. With Nehru walking into the Chinese trap despite all the warnings (Sardar Patel died exactly thirty-eight days after writing...