The India-China Border

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The India-China border question is a subject on which a great deal of authentic and original material is available in the form of maps, documents, treaties, official correspondence, and exhaustive reports by the two governments concerned. But the vastness of this material and the complexity of the question make it difficult for the lay reader to get at the main points of the argument.

G.N. Rao has attempted here, in a small compass, a clear and lucid analysis of the nature of evidence involved, the basic geographical factors as well as the main historical events. which determined the evolution of the India-China boundary. He has examined at length the relative merits of the Indian and the Chinese cases and critically appraised the arguments advanced in some quarters, in justification of some of the Chinese claims. With the help of documentary evidence, much of which is unpublished, he shows that although Britain’s obsession with Russophobia and her anxiety to limit her own defence responsibilities predisposed her in China’s favour and actually made her encourage Chinese occupation of certain areas over which China had, in fact, little control, neither she nor Imperial China ever envisaged the type of claims which the present-day China has put forward over vast areas along the Indian border. The current dispute between India and China, the author concludes, is not a mere boundary dispute, but one which involves deeper considerations underlying Chinese policies.

GONDKER Narayana Rao obtained his M.A. Degree from the University of Mysore and served as Lecturer there for six years from 1944 to 1950. He has been engaged in research in international affairs for more than twenty years. He has made a special study of India-China relations and of the border question. In 1960, he served as an Advisor to the Indian delegation which discussed the border question with Chinese officials in Beijing, New Delhi, and Yangon.

Our Relations with China have deteriorated to such an extent that it is often forgotten that the dispute originated with the Chinese questioning our northern boundary and laying claim to large parts of our territory. Yet a clear understanding of the border problem is essential to grasp the current dimensions and the political and ideological tones of the controversy at its present stage. If, as some protagonists of China claim, our northern boundary has not been fully determined, then it is possible that a genuine mis- understanding lies at the root of the problem; but if the Indian case on the boundary has evidence overwhelmingly in its favour, then clearly the Chinese have been exploiting the issue in order to disrupt relations when it suited them. Gondker Narayana Rao has spent many years studying the vast amount of material on the subject and served as an adviser to the delegation of Indian officials which discussed the boundary question with Chinese officials in 1960. He has drawn on his knowledge to provide a lucid exposition of the problem, and his work will prove invaluable to all, both in India and abroad, who are interested in the subject.

This Study was undertaken in early 1964 and was completed by May that year. For various reasons it could not be published immediately. A number of books, including Alastair Lamb’s two volumes on the McMahon Line, have appeared since then, and the work has been suitably modified.

I am grateful to friends who have gone through this work and made useful suggestions. The views expressed herein are, of course, my own personal ones.