ABSTRACT
The Indian government relied on agreements and documents supporting its claim that the boundary in the eastern, central, and western sectors, between China and India, as defined by it, was the recognized and permanent border. India had been the second non-Communist state, after Burma, to recognize the Communist regime in China. There were three basic components to Jawaharlal Nehru’s and his advisor’s perceptions about China: paternalism, romanticism, and the sense that in principle there was an affinity and mutual need between the two nations. The left wing of the Congress Party, with Nehru and Krishna Menon at its head, was thrilled by the Chinese revolution. And on the surface it did, indeed, seem as if there were a great similarity between the two societies. Nehru’s evaluations, calculations and expectations relating to Sino-Indian bilateral relations were based on misperceptions.
