The Role Of Decision Making In The Pre-Crisis Period Of India (15 Marc
The Role of Decision Making in the Pre-Crisis Period of India (15 March, 1959 - 7
September, 1962)
Boyko Iaramov
Introduction to International Relations
Professor Bond
More than thirty years have passed since the dramatic cling of arm in
the remote Himalayan region of the Sino-Indian border. This Time gap seems to be
appropriate for a correct reexamination of the conflict. The account of India's
attempt to find balance with China, ever since the Kongska Pass incident in 1959
until the attack of 1962, is not merely a fact sheet that we can brows and toss
and toss away. In stead we have to link each idea to the event and causes that
might have played a role in the conflict.
Ever since 1959 the border problem between Asia's biggest two nation-
states has been picking up speed at a threatening speed. The year 1962 was the
unfortunate year for India which knocked out any possibility of understanding
between China and India. Of course, such an act of terror could have not started
without some kind of the reason, whatever it may be. The chronological order of
pre-crisis decisions taken India's authorities are of great importance.
The role of the decision-makers before the time of the armed conflict
had a big significance for India's position on political and economic matters in
the continent of Asia. A major figure in India's decision making was Jawaharlal
Nehru, leader of the Congress Party, head of the Planning Commission and chief
spokesman of the government in Parliament. These titles not only made him an
important nationalistic figure but also Gandhi's appointed heir and a "major
architect of India's political institutions" (Brecher, 1959). Krishna Menon,
"the controversial defense minister consulted in almost every issue" along with
Pandit Govind...
Please login to view the full essay...