ABSTRACT
The Sino-Indian conflict has been as much about the quest for control of the Central Asian trade and natural resources as any one issue other than that. A critical understanding of the psyche of Central Asia, particularly the province of Sinkiyang, is necessary for gleaning the finer motives of both the parties in this dispute. The Kushans had gotten Indianized and settled near Peshawar in modern Pakistan. In the seventh century ad the Tang dynasty of China again came to power in Central Asia and a protectorate was briefly set up in western Afghanistan. In the eighth century the Chinese were defeated by the Tibetans and the Harun of Arabia was also similarly subdued. The Mongol power rose again in the thirteenth century ad and it unified China. The British had previously wanted to take control of the Central Asian trade and make the northern frontiers of India invulnerable from Russian invasion.
