Book contents
- Spying in South Asia
- Spying in South Asia
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on Place Names
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Transfer of Power: British Intelligence and the End of Empire in South Asia
- 2 Silent Partners: Britain, India, and Early Cold War Intelligence Liaison
- 3 India’s Rasputin: V. K. Krishna Menon and the Spectre of Indian Communism
- 4 Quiet Americans: The CIA and the Onset of the Cold War in South Asia
- 5 Confronting China: The Sino-Indian War and Collaborative Covert Action
- 6 Peddling Propaganda: The Information Research Department and India
- 7 From Russia with Love: Dissidents and Defectors in Cold War India
- 8 The Foreign Hand: Indira Gandhi and the Politics of Intelligence
- 9 Battle of the Books: Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Seymour Hersh, and India’s CIA ‘Agents’
- 10 Indian Intelligence and the End of the Cold War
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - Confronting China: The Sino-Indian War and Collaborative Covert Action
Published online by Cambridge University Press: aN Invalid Date NaN
- Spying in South Asia
- Spying in South Asia
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on Place Names
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Transfer of Power: British Intelligence and the End of Empire in South Asia
- 2 Silent Partners: Britain, India, and Early Cold War Intelligence Liaison
- 3 India’s Rasputin: V. K. Krishna Menon and the Spectre of Indian Communism
- 4 Quiet Americans: The CIA and the Onset of the Cold War in South Asia
- 5 Confronting China: The Sino-Indian War and Collaborative Covert Action
- 6 Peddling Propaganda: The Information Research Department and India
- 7 From Russia with Love: Dissidents and Defectors in Cold War India
- 8 The Foreign Hand: Indira Gandhi and the Politics of Intelligence
- 9 Battle of the Books: Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Seymour Hersh, and India’s CIA ‘Agents’
- 10 Indian Intelligence and the End of the Cold War
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
On 20 October 1962, a border dispute between India and the People’s Republic of China erupted into open warfare, leaving the Indian Army reeling and the country’s political leadership in a state of panic. A State of Emergency was declared, a National Defence Fund established, and recruiting stations for India’s armed forces were flooded with eager volunteers. This chapter dissects the impact of joint covert action operations undertaken by India and the United States in the wake of Sino-Indian hostilities. It examines how and why the CIA assisted the IB in equipping and training a clandestine warfare unit tasked with monitoring Chinese military supply routes into Tibet and oversaw the insertion of nuclear-powered surveillance equipment on two of India’s Himalayan peaks to collect data on Chinese atomic tests. Coming at a point when new mechanisms for the implementation of covert action where being introduced by Whitehall, including the Counter Subversion Committee and the Joint Action Committee, the chapter also analyses how the border war was approached by Whitehall as an opportunity to test new British covert capabilities and to roll-back communism in South Asia.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Spying in South AsiaBritain, the United States, and India's Secret Cold War, pp. 100 - 123Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024