ABSTRACT
The Sino-Indian War of 1962 was a major but limited conventional conflict be tween China and India over control of disputed territory along parts of their com mon border. The one-month-long conflict, fought in the eastern and western sectors of the Tibetan Plateau, ended with China’s unilateral declaration of a cease-fire and withdrawal behind the original pre-war “line of control.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) defeated the Indian Army in decisive combat in both the eastern and western sectors. Although a great deal has been written and made public from the Indian side about military aspects of the war, Chinese writings until recently have focused on issues of sovereignty and the legitimacy of China’s territorial claims. This chapter examines the military aspects of the war, taking advantage of both Chinese archival research and documents and Russian docu ments released from archives after the breakup of the Soviet Union.1
