in China. China had always treated Tibet as its Province and used to collect tributes from her. The Communist regime also treated it as one of her autonomous Provinces. But, a theocratic Tibet could not reconcile with socialist China.
The Tibetan issue, particularly granting asylum to Tibetan leader Dalai Lama and his people was a cause of rift between these two countries. The roots of the India-China border issue can be traced to centuries, its immediate reason relates to China’s occupation of Tibet in . China’s reasons for occupation is based on historical linkage and ideological fervour. Ever since the occupation of Tibet, China started claiming many of Indian territory as theirs.
Despite the talks both the countries had since the 1950s, there was hardly any progress in the clear demarcation of borders. Nonetheless, there was information about frequent cross border infiltrations. By , India decided to firmly fix the borders and launched ‘Forward Policy’, establishing military posts in the disputed territories. This move by India did not go well with China and it launched a massive attack on Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh on October , .
The war lasted only for days, yet it made a long lasting humiliating impact on India. India-China War, When China announced that it would be occupying Tibet, India sent a letter of protest proposing negotiations on the Tibet issue. China was even more active in deploying troops on the Aksai Chin border. In , China and India concluded the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, under which, India acknowledged Chinese rule in Tibet.
In July , Nehru wrote a memo directing a revision in the maps of India to show definite boundaries on all frontiers; however, Chinese maps showed some , square kilometres of Indian territory as Chinese. On being questioned, Zhou Enlai, the first Premier of People’s Republic of China, responded that there were errors in the maps. The People’s Republic of China’s leader, Mao Zedong felt humiliated by the reception Dalai Lama obtained in India when he fled there in March