Himalayan Chess: India’s Frontier Policies and the Sino-Indian Border Conflict

Abstract

Circa 1959, both the Indian military and Ministry of External Affairs grew increasingly concerned about the situation at the Tibetan border, including the “virtually undefended frontiers of Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan.” Chinese overtures toward the Himalayan Kingdoms in tandem with troop movements, spy activities, and road building in the region threatened India’s sphere of influence and national security. The Indian government therefore implemented policies to bolster its control over the frontier by countering Chinese propaganda, restricting the movements of foreigners, providing inducements to the Himalayan Kingdoms, and increasing its military presence. After India’s humiliating defeat in the 1962 Sino-Indian War revealed the shortcomings of these policies, the securitization of its peripheries became a national obsession.