As we know China had been battered in WWII, the communist civil war, and the wars it fought with colonial powers in the 19th century. But it eventually did recover and started to threaten its neighbors, fight war with India etc. In all this, help came to china from an unexpected quarter – India under leadership of Nehruji.
How India help China become strong? What actions of Nehruji helped China? Lets look at them one by one.
- Letting China take over Tibet: When China captured Tibet, India did not raise a voice. Had India made a light murmur, China may have backed off. All the important rivers including Brahmaputra Origin from Tibet and by letting China capture Tibet India helped China get water security. Plus, this made China share a long border with India and the possibility of Tibet being a buffer state was eliminated.
- Letting China take over Xinjiang: India did not protest when China took over Xinjiang. India even had a consulate in Xinjiang, when China captured India simply withdrew. After acquisition of this province, China shared borders with central Asian nations.
- Made China a member of Security council: This was probably the biggest mistake. India was unofficially offered(by US) the privilege, but Nehru wanted a strong country to be a part of Security Council and that country was China as per his opinion.
- Help give diplomatic recognition to the new communist regime: After communist takeover of China, it became a pariah state in international forums. Nehru personally helped China get the recognition and acceptability in international forums. For e.g. Nehru was personally introducing Zhou Enlai, the Chinese Premier to all world leaders in a summit.
- Did not capture whole of Kashmir: If India had captured the whole of Kashmir, then China and Pakistan would not have shared a border and China could have never been able to reach the Arabian sea through Xinjiang-Kashmir-Pakistan route. Please note, I view the Kashmir problem as an India-China problem rather than an India-Pak problem. Had the whole of Kashmir been captured, then the China-Pak nexus would have never been created.
Looking at above, it is clear that India would been more secure and not facing a belligerent China had we, as India, taken the right steps.
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