| Second Sino-Indian war | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg) World map from 1967 with China and India highlighted | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 India |
 China | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Zakir Husain (President) Indira Gandhi (Prime Minister) Gen. P. P. Kumaramangalam (Chief of the Army Staff) Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora[4] Maj. Gen. Sagat Singh[4] Brig. Rai Singh Yadav (2 Grenadiers) |
Mao Zedong (Chairman of the CPC/CMC) Zhou Enlai(Chinese Premier) Maj. Gen. Wang Chenghan(Deputy commander of the Tibet Military District) Maj. Gen. Yu Zhiquan | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
 Indian Army |
 People's Liberation Army Ground Force | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Part of the 112th Infantry Brigade |
31st Infantry Regiment
75th Artillery Battalion 308th Artillery Brigade[5]
| ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
Indian claims: 88 killed 163 wounded[6][7] Chinese claims: 101 killed (65 Nathu La, 36 Cho La)[8] |
Indian claims: 340 killed 450 wounded[7] Chinese claims: 32 killed (Nathu La), unknown (Cho La)[8] | ||||||||
The Nathu La and Cho La clashes, sometimes referred to as Indo-China War of 1967, Sino-Indian War of 1967,[9][10] were a series of border clashes between China and India alongside the border of the Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim, then an Indian protectorate.
The Nathu La clashes started on 11 September 1967, when China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) launched an attack on Indian posts at Nathu La, and lasted till 15 September 1967. In October 1967, another military duel took place at Cho La and ended on the same day.
According to independent sources, India achieved "decisive tactical advantage" and managed to hold its own against and push back Chinese forces.[1][2][3] Many PLA fortifications at Nathu La were destroyed,[8] where the Indian troops drove back the attacking Chinese forces.[1] The competition to control the disputed borderland in Chumbi Valley is seen as a major cause for heightening the tensions in these incidents. Observers have commented that these clashes indicated the decline of 'claim strength' in China's decision to initiate the use of force against India, and stated that India was greatly pleased with the combat performance of its forces in the Nathu La clashes, seeing it as a sign of striking improvement since its defeat in the 1962 Sino-Indian War.
- ^ a b c Brahma Chellaney (2006). Asian Juggernaut: The Rise of China, India, and Japan. HarperCollins. p. 195. ISBN 9788172236502.
Indeed, Beijing's acknowledgement of Indian control over Sikkim seems limited to the purpose of facilitating trade through the vertiginous Nathu-la Pass, the scene of bloody artillery duels in September 1967 when Indian troops beat back attacking Chinese forces.
- ^ a b Van Praagh, David (2003). Greater Game: India's Race with Destiny and China. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 301. ISBN 9780773525887.
(Indian) jawans trained and equipped for high-altitude combat used US provided artillery, deployed on higher ground than that of their adversaries, to decisive tactical advantage at Nathu La and Cho La near the Sikkim-Tibet border.
- ^ a b Hoontrakul, Ponesak (2014), "Asia's Evolving Economic Dynamism and Political Pressures", in P. Hoontrakul; C. Balding; R. Marwah (eds.), The Global Rise of Asian Transformation: Trends and Developments in Economic Growth Dynamics, Palgrave Macmillan US, p. 37, ISBN 978-1-137-41236-2,
Cho La incident (1967) - Victorious: India / Defeated : China
- ^ a b Sheru Thapliyal (Retired Major General of the Indian Army, who commanded the Nathu La Brigade.) (2009) [first published in the FORCE Magazine, 2004]. "The Nathu La skirmish: when Chinese were given a bloody nose". www.claws.in. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015.
- ^ 中国人民解放军步兵第十一师军战史 [Battle Records of the 11th Division of the People's Liberation Army, Part II], pp. 337–338
Extract on a personal web page at ishare.iask.sina.com.cn - ^ People, India Parliament House of the; Sabha, India Parliament Lok (1967). Lok Sabha Debates. Lok Sabha Secretariat. pp. 51–.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Mishra JNUwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Fravel, M. Taylor (2008). Strong Borders, Secure Nation: Cooperation and Conflict in China's Territorial Disputes. Princeton University Press. pp. 197–199. ISBN 978-1400828876.
- ^ Prashar, Sakshi (June 2020). "A history of Sino-Indian feuds: Times when China had to back down". The Economic Times. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ Mitter, Rana (September 2020). "The old scars remain: Sino-Indian war of 1967". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 February 2021.