2. Indo China war, 1962 The 1962 India-China war was one which should never have been fought.
The ill-equipped Indian army suffered the following casualties: 1,383 killed, 1,047 wounded, 1,696 missing, 3,968 jawans captured.
The Chinese PLA (People's Liberation Army) suffered the following casualties: 722 killed, 1,697 wounded.
The main reason of this war was the dispute over sovereignty of Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh border regions then called NEFA (North East Frontier Agency).
China occupied almsot the entire Aksai Chin and large chunks in Arunachal Pradesh.
Taking advantage of an undemarcated border, the Chinese laid claims on Aksai Chin and NEFA. As Indian and Chinese governments could not reach agreement on disputed territories along the 3,225-kilometer-long border, the Chinese launched simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line on October 20, 1962.
It was only after the Chinese declared unilateral ceasefire in the face of opposition from the US, that the war ended with India licking its wounds.
For the first time, the Indian defence establishment understood the need for modernising its armed forces.
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