ABSTRACT
The Sino-Indian war of 1962 had been seen by many Pakistanis as a missed opportunity to resolve the Kashmir issue through armed intervention. In fact, there was a strong view that there was no justification for Pakistan’s neutrality in the China-India conflict. It was the dialectics of what was desirable for the US and the extent to which it was prepared to involve itself under the circumstances that determined the US response to the South Asian conflict. The 1965 war underlined an important gap in America’s South Asia policy. Even those within the US administration who were quite skeptical about a meaningful understanding between India and Pakistan had favored economic and military aid to both countries, believing that these two neighboring countries would not start a major war. Meanwhile the Johnson administration had correctly sensed the mood of Congress regarding military and economic aid, and their concern with the Indo-Pak war.
