India"s Border Conflict with China: A Perceptual Analysis

Abstract

The Sino-Indian conflict which led finally to the border war of 1962 was a multi-faceted conflict. That is, it was not limited to a clash of interest over a specific issue, such as territory, but was much more than that. It touched on a wide variety of issues, from the interpreting of the nature of the current and the preferred global system, through the analysis of the relations of both states with the superpowers, to relations with other states in the South Asian subsystem and the bilateral relations between China and India, and involved judgement of the characteristics of the other side's domestic arena. Thus, it was, in fact, a conflict between two different sometimes almost diametrically different world-views, which was externalized and focused on the conflict over territory and border claims and through demonstration of force and the actual use of it. This complex nature of the conflict makes the understanding of perceptions held by the parties to it so important. However, to deal with the definition of the situation of both sides on all issues will be impossible within the space limits of an article; thus we will concentrate on one major facet, that of the bilateral relations as it found expression in mutual perceptions and misperceptions. It is not my intention to discuss the legal details of the SinoIndian dispute or to take a stand on them.' But the legal aspect is relevant to our discussion insofar as the Sino-Indian conflict was a collision between two essentially different patterns of legal thought. Legal claims were crucial in the crystallization of Nehru's position. After the Indian team on the Sino-Indian joint committee on the subject had presented its findings, Nehru concluded that the