Is 1962 China-India war still haunting New Delhi today?

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More than half a century after its humiliating defeat by China in a brief border war, India is engaged in another standoff with its northeastern neighbor near the Himalayas.

New Delhi says it has learned the lesson of the 1962 war and emerged stronger. However, it has so far refused to back off.

Is the 1962 Sino-Indian border conflict a factor behind India's assertiveness today? Is the rigid position of the South Asian country in the current deadlock driven by its past defeat? Or did amnesia hit New Delhi?

Border tension continues

According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ongoing standoff began on June 18 after over 270 Indian border troops crossed into the Donglang area, over which China has indisputable sovereignty.

India cited "serious security implications" arising from China's road building in the area and "protecting Bhutan" as justifications for its move, which China called "untenable."

As of Monday, 53 Indian soldiers – an increase of 13 people from the end of July – and one Indian bulldozer remain illegally in the Chinese territory, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, urging India to immediately withdraw its troops and equipment from its side of the border.

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang warned India last week that China's "goodwill has its principles and restraint has its bottom line."

A sketch map of the site of the current standoff between China and India. /Photo via Chinese Foreign Ministry

But India has refused to pull out its troops and instead ordered the evacuation of a village close to the Donglang area, which could herald a plan of adding more troops to the frontline of confrontation.

Indian Defense Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday that the country's armed forces had "learned a lesson" from the 1962 war with China and become "fully capable."

His statement marked the second time he referenced the 1962 war since the start of the impasse. In late June, Jaitley asserted that "the India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962."

1962 defeat keeps haunting Indians

India will celebrate the 70th anniversary of its independence next Tuesday.

The Partition of India in 1947 not only fundamentally shaped India's relationship with Pakistan, but also with China. Growing tensions along the disputed Sino-Indian border eventually led to a month-long war from October to November 1962, which ended in China's victory.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C) waves to spectators after the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi on January 26, 2016. /AFP Photo

For India and its armed forces in particular, the wound of the 1962 defeat is yet to heal, Ye Hailin, a South Asia expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote in a commentary last month for Cankao Xiaoxi, a newspaper published by Xinhua News Agency.

"India has never forgotten the war that made the self-important nation and its first prime minister (Jawaharlal Nehru) lose face altogether," Ye noted.

Commenting on the 1962 conflict in a recent piece on The Diplomat, Jin Kai, a research fellow at Yonsei Institute for Sinology at South Korea's Yonsei University, said the Chinese army "virtually 'rolled down' from the plateau and swept over the Indian troops, leaving New Delhi an unbearable dismay at its defeat," adding that the sentiment "has lingered over for years" and is impacting New Delhi's response to the Donglang standoff.

Curtis Stone of People's Daily said in an online commentary on Thursday India has long sought to dominate Asia and obtain recognition from its neighbors for its status "as the region's leading power," citing an unclassified document on India's strategic interests and an intelligence assessment by the US.

"India considers China, which crushed India in the 1962 war, as its most serious security threat," the document concluded, according to the article.

Is India strong enough to rival China?

Though the Indian defense minister said his country is not the same as it was in 1962, experts made it clear that China is also much stronger than it was 55 years ago, stressing that China today has an even bigger edge over India.

"Jaitley is correct about the rise of India, to some extent," Jin wrote in The Diplomat. "But if the rise of India is a success, the rise of China truly has been a miracle."

CGTN Graphic

According to Ye, the gap between Chinese and Indian military forces have significantly widened since 1962. China had not built a complete military industrial system by the time of that war, but India is yet to build such apparatus even today, he said.

Despite India deploying more troops near the border region, China's superior infrastructure building and transportation capacities would offset its disadvantage in troop numbers, Ye stressed.

"In 1962, the two countries' economic strength was roughly the same," he said. "But in 2017, the Chinese economy is already about five times India's."

In Ye's view, the Indians, who still pursue "apparently aggressive" policies of advancement, have not learned enough from their defeat in 1962.