Misplaced Pages

#639360

63-610: Eastern Air Command may refer to : Eastern Air Command (India) RCAF Eastern Air Command , a home defence command of Canada during the Second World War Major subordinate command of the Allied air forces under Air Command South-East Asia , during 1944–45 [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about military units and formations which are associated with

126-552: A border that, in some places, lay north of the McMahon Line. Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, in November 1956, assured India that China had no claims on Indian territory, although official Chinese maps showed 120,000 square kilometres (46,000 sq mi) of territory claimed by India as Chinese. They also allege that Zhou purposefully told Nehru that there were no border issues with India. In 1954, China and India negotiated

189-624: A boundary pillar at the Karakoram pass by about 1892. These efforts appear half-hearted. A map provided by Hung Ta-chen, a senior Chinese official at St. Petersburgh , in 1893 showed the boundary of Xinjiang up to Raskam. In the east, it was similar to the Johnson line, placing Aksai Chin in Kashmir territory. By 1892, the British settled on the policy that their preferred boundary for Kashmir

252-506: A conglomeration of about ten tribal settlements with a population of a couple of thousand in Arunachal Pradesh is the only one of its kind in the world which is totally air-maintained. Pilots operate from the advance landing grounds (ALG) with only one third of the length of a regular runway, having unique and uni-directional approach and take off requirements. This coupled with the vagaries of weather expects superior skills from

315-465: A gun, and I'll wave a gun. We'll stand face to face and can each practice our courage. The attacks by China beginning on 20 October 1962 were retaliation for the forward policy. Various border conflicts and "military incidents" between India and China flared up throughout the summer and autumn of 1962. In May, the Indian Air Force was told not to plan for close air support , although it

378-561: A legitimate claim over either of these territories, and thus was not ready to concede them. This adamant stance was perceived in China as Indian opposition to Chinese rule in Tibet. Nehru declined to conduct any negotiations on the boundary until Chinese troops withdrew from Aksai Chin, a position supported by the international community. India produced numerous reports on the negotiations, and translated Chinese reports into English to help inform

441-625: A major setback when, in 1959, Nehru accommodated the Tibetan religious leader at the time, the 14th Dalai Lama , who fled Lhasa after a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. The Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party , Mao Zedong , was enraged and asked the Xinhua News Agency to produce reports on Indian expansionists operating in Tibet. Border incidents continued through this period. In August 1959,

504-546: A road through Aksai Chin, connecting Xinjiang and Tibet, which ran south of the Johnson Line in many places. Aksai Chin was easily accessible to the Chinese, but access from India, which meant negotiating the Karakoram mountains, was much more difficult. The road came on Chinese maps published in 1958. In 1826, British India gained a common border with Tibet after the British wrested control of Manipur and Assam from

567-568: A self-defence counterattack plan. Negotiations were restarted between the nations, but no progress was made. As a consequence of their non-recognition of the McMahon Line, China's maps showed both the North East Frontier Area (NEFA) and Aksai Chin to be Chinese territory. In 1960, Zhou Enlai unofficially suggested that India drop its claims to Aksai Chin in return for a Chinese withdrawal of claims over NEFA. Adhering to his stated position, Nehru believed that China did not have

630-681: A specific mandate both during peace and war. In war situations, the command is tasked to conduct counter air operations and provides offensive air support to Army and Para-Military Forces. In peace, the command swings into action whenever there is a natural calamity. It was extensively involved in relief operations in the aftermath of the supercyclone in Orissa and has provided relief supplies during floods in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh . The command has three broad spheres of activity - operations, maintenance and administration. The fighter squadrons under

693-591: A stable Sino-Indian border. To resolve any doubts about the Indian position, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru declared in parliament that India regarded the McMahon Line as its official border. The Chinese expressed no concern at this statement. At the time, Chinese officials issued no condemnation of Nehru's claims or made any opposition to Nehru's open declarations of control over Aksai Chin. In 1956, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai stated that he had no claims over Indian-controlled territory. He later argued that Aksai Chin

SECTION 10

#1732772020640

756-651: A weakened China along with Tibet in the Simla Convention to settle the borders between Tibet, China and British India. The foreign secretary of the British Indian government, Henry McMahon was the driving force in this conference. After carrying out surveys, the conference drew the McMahon Line . Whilst all three representatives initialed the agreement, Beijing later objected to the proposed boundary and did not ratify it. McMahon decided to bypass

819-455: Is an unsung saga of commitment, daring and dedication. The Eastern Air Command was a major participant in 1962 Sino-Indian War and the Indo-Pak war of 1971 . During the 1962 war, Eastern Air Command was tasked with mounting transport support missions, a task admirably performed by its Dakota and Caribou aircraft. It also mounted reconnaissance and casualty evacuation sorties using

882-721: The Bell and Sikorsky helicopters it operated at the time. During the 1971 war, Eastern Air Command was tasked with offensive as well as supply operations. It was involved right from the first clash over Boyra to the Tangail Airdrop . It also operated Mi-4 helicopters in offensive roles behind enemy lines, operating from helicopter bases in Tripura . Squadrons include (as of 2015): Sino-Indian War Chinese sources: Indian sources : Indian sources: Chinese sources: The Sino–Indian War , also known as

945-796: The Burmese , following the First Anglo-Burmese War of 1824–1826. In 1847, Major J. Jenkins, agent for the North East Frontier, reported that the Tawang was part of Tibet. In 1872, four monastic officials from Tibet arrived in Tawang and supervised a boundary settlement with Major R. Graham, NEFA official, which included the Tawang Tract as part of Tibet. In 1873, the British drew an "Inner Line" as an administrative line to inhibit their subjects from encroaching into

1008-686: The China–India War or the Indo–China War , was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispute . Fighting occurred along India's border with China, in India's North-East Frontier Agency east of Bhutan , and in Aksai Chin west of Nepal . There had been a series of border skirmishes between

1071-497: The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence , by which the two nations agreed to abide in settling their disputes. India presented a frontier map which was accepted by China, and the slogan Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai (Indians and Chinese are brothers) was popularised. Nehru in 1958 had privately told G. Parthasarathi , the Indian envoy to China not to trust the Chinese at all and send all communications directly to him, bypassing

1134-752: The MiG-27 ( Bahadur ). The transport aircraft and helicopter of the Eastern Air Command are critical in the North-East India . The topography in the hill regions restrict the construction of a standard runway . Tribal settlements in places like Menchuha, Vijaynagar and Tuting in remote and inaccessible areas of Arunachal Pradesh totally depend on the aerial supply by the Air Force. They also depend on these aircraft to airlift their sick and ailing. The district headquarters at Anini ,

1197-486: The North-East Frontier Agency . Both of these regions were overrun by China in the 1962 conflict. Most combat took place at high elevations. The Aksai Chin region is a desert of salt flats around 5,000 metres (16,000 feet) above sea level, and Arunachal Pradesh is mountainous with a number of peaks exceeding 7,000 metres (23,000 feet). The Chinese Army had possession of one of the highest ridges in

1260-478: The Xinhai Revolution in 1911 which resulted in power shifts in China, the fall of Tzarist Russia in 1917 and the end of World War I in 1918, the British officially used the Johnson Line but had lost the urgency to enforce this boundary. They took no steps to establish outposts or assert control on the ground. According to Neville Maxwell , the British had used as many as 11 different boundary lines in

1323-477: The sovereignty of the widely separated Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh border regions. Aksai Chin, claimed by India to belong to Ladakh and by China to be part of Xinjiang, contains an important road link that connects the Chinese regions of Tibet and Xinjiang. China's construction of this road was one of the triggers of the conflict. The western portion of the Sino-Indian boundary originated in 1834, with

SECTION 20

#1732772020640

1386-588: The "northern branch" of the Kunlun range with the Kilian and Sanju passes as its southern boundary. Thus the Maharaja's claim was uncontested. After the 1862 Dungan Revolt , which saw the expulsion of the Chinese from Turkestan, the Maharaja of Kashmir constructed a small fort at Shahidulla in 1864. The fort was most likely supplied from Khotan , whose ruler was now independent and on friendly terms with Kashmir. When

1449-399: The 1950s, India began patrolling the region. It found that, at multiple locations, the highest ridges actually fell north of the McMahon Line. Given India's historic position that the original intent of the line was to separate the two nations by the highest mountains in the world, in these locations India extended its forward posts northward to the ridges, regarding this move as compliant with

1512-550: The 3,225-kilometre (2,004 mi) border in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line in the northeastern frontier. Chinese troops pushed Indian forces back in both theatres, capturing all of their claimed territory in the western theatre and the Tawang Tract in the eastern theatre. The conflict ended when China unilaterally declared a ceasefire on 20 November 1962, and simultaneously announced its withdrawal to its pre-war position,

1575-494: The British, who then installed Gulab Singh as the Maharaja under their suzerainty. British commissioners contacted Chinese officials to negotiate the border, who did not show any interest. The British boundary commissioners fixed the southern end of the boundary at Pangong Lake , but regarded the area north of it till the Karakoram Pass as terra incognita . The Maharaja of Kashmir and his officials were keenly aware of

1638-458: The Chinese (although instructed not to by his superiors) and settle the border bilaterally by negotiating directly with Tibet. According to later Indian claims, this border was intended to run through the highest ridges of the Himalayas, as the areas south of the Himalayas were traditionally Indian. The McMahon Line lay south of the boundary India claims. India's government held the view that

1701-653: The Chinese-claimed frontier in Aksai Chin. Indian leaders believed, based on previous diplomacy, that the Chinese would not react with force. According to the Indian Official History, Indian posts and Chinese posts were separated by a narrow stretch of land. China had been steadily spreading into those lands and India reacted with the forward policy to demonstrate that those lands were not unoccupied. Neville Maxwell traces this confidence to

1764-544: The Defence Minister VK Krishna Menon since his communist background clouded his thinking about China. According to John W Garver , Nehru's policy on Tibet was to create a strong Sino-Indian partnership which would be catalysed through agreement and compromise on Tibet. Garver believes that Nehru's previous actions had given him confidence that China would be ready to form an "Asian Axis" with India. This apparent progress in relations suffered

1827-608: The Eastern Air Command are equipped with MiG variants, and pilots are under continuous training for operational flying. At Tezpur , located on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra in Upper Assam , newly commissioned ab-initio fighter pilots undergo fighter pilot training and on successful completion get inducted into various fighter squadrons in IAF . Majority of the fighter fleet of Eastern Air Command consists of MiG-21 and

1890-609: The Eastern and Western commands: [...] We are to patrol as far forward as possible from our present positions towards the International Border as recognized by us. This will be done with a view to establishing additional posts located to prevent the Chinese from advancing further and also to dominate any Chinese posts already established in our territory. [...] This has been referred to as the "forward policy". There were eventually 60 such outposts, including 43 along

1953-657: The Himalayas were the ancient boundaries of the Indian subcontinent , and thus should be the modern boundaries of India, while it is the position of the Chinese government that the disputed area in the Himalayas have been geographically and culturally part of Tibet since ancient times. The British-run Government of India initially rejected the Simla Agreement as incompatible with the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 , which stipulated that neither party

Eastern Air Command - Misplaced Pages Continue

2016-524: The Indian Ladakh region for centuries, and that the border (as defined by the Johnson Line) was non-negotiable. According to George N. Patterson , when the Indian government finally produced a report detailing the alleged proof of India's claims to the disputed area, "the quality of the Indian evidence was very poor, including some very dubious sources indeed". In 1956–57, China constructed

2079-784: The Intelligence Bureau chief Mullik. The initial reaction of the Chinese forces was to withdraw when Indian outposts advanced towards them. However, this appeared to encourage the Indian forces to accelerate their forward policy even further. In response, the Central Military Commission adopted a policy of "armed coexistence". In response to Indian outposts encircling Chinese positions, Chinese forces would build more outposts to counter-encircle these Indian positions. This pattern of encirclement and counter-encirclement resulted in an interlocking, chessboard-like deployment of Chinese and Indian forces. Despite

2142-644: The Khotanese ruler was deposed by the Kashgaria strongman Yakub Beg , the Maharaja was forced to abandon his post in 1867. It was then occupied by Yakub Beg's forces until the end of the Dungan Revolt. In the intervening period, W. H. Johnson of Survey of India was commissioned to survey the Aksai Chin region. While in the course of his work, he was "invited" by the Khotanese ruler to visit his capital. After returning, Johnson noted that Khotan's border

2205-463: The McMahon Line excepting the demarcation of the trading town of Tawang , which the Line placed under British-Indian jurisdiction. Up until World War II , Tibetan officials were allowed to administer Tawang with complete authority. Due to the increased threat of Japanese and Chinese expansion during this period, British Indian troops secured the town as part of the defence of India's eastern border. In

2268-652: The PLA took an Indian prisoner at Longju, which had an ambiguous position in the McMahon Line, and two months later in Aksai Chin, a clash at Kongka Pass led to the death of nine Indian frontier policemen. On 2 October, Soviet first secretary Nikita Khrushchev defended Nehru in a meeting with Mao. This action reinforced China's impression that the Soviet Union, the United States and India all had expansionist designs on China. The PLA went so far as to prepare

2331-779: The Russian Empire was entrenched in Central Asia, and the British were anxious to avoid a common border with the Russians. After creating the Wakhan corridor as the buffer in the northwest of Kashmir, they wanted the Chinese to fill out the "no man's land" between the Karakoram and Kunlun ranges. Under British (and possibly Russian) encouragement, the Chinese occupied the area up to the Yarkand River valley (called Raskam ), including Shahidulla, by 1890. They also erected

2394-405: The boundary dispute. China and India disagreed on the major watershed that defined the boundary in the western sector. The Chinese statements with respect to their border claims often misrepresented the cited sources. The failure of these negotiations was compounded by successful Chinese border agreements with Nepal ( Sino-Nepalese Treaty of Peace and Friendship ) and Burma in the same year. In

2457-638: The conquest of Ladakh by the armies of Raja Gulab Singh (Dogra) under the suzerainty of the Sikh Empire . Following an unsuccessful campaign into Tibet, Gulab Singh and the Tibetans signed a treaty in 1842 agreeing to stick to the "old, established frontiers", which were left unspecified. The British defeat of the Sikhs in 1846 resulted in the transfer of the Jammu and Kashmir region including Ladakh to

2520-592: The effective China–India border (also known as the Line of Actual Control ). Much of the fighting comprised mountain warfare , entailing large-scale combat at altitudes of over 4,000 metres (13,000 feet). Notably, the war took place entirely on land, without the use of naval or air assets by either side. As the Sino-Soviet split deepened, the Soviet Union made a major effort to support India, especially with

2583-538: The first route at Shahidulla. The Maharaja regarded Shahidulla as his northern outpost, in effect treating the Kunlun mountains as the boundary of his domains. His British suzerains were sceptical of such an extended boundary because Shahidulla was 79 miles (127 km) away from the Karakoram Pass and the intervening area was uninhabited. Nevertheless, the Maharaja was allowed to treat Shahidulla as his outpost for more than 20 years. Chinese Turkestan regarded

Eastern Air Command - Misplaced Pages Continue

2646-475: The international debate. China believed that India was simply securing its claim lines in order to continue its "grand plans in Tibet". India's stance that China withdraw from Aksai Chin caused continual deterioration of the diplomatic situation to the point that internal forces were pressuring Nehru to take a military stance against China. In 1960, based on an agreement between Nehru and Zhou Enlai, officials from India and China held discussions in order to settle

2709-402: The leapfrogging encirclements by both sides, no hostile fire occurred from either side as troops from both sides were under orders to fire only in defense. On the situation, Mao commented, Nehru wants to move forward and we won't let him. Originally, we tried to guard against this, but now it seems we cannot prevent it. If he wants to advance, we might as well adopt armed coexistence. You wave

2772-569: The original border proposal, although the Simla Convention did not explicitly state this intention. British India was partitioned in 1947 and split into India and Pakistan while the Chinese Civil War resulted in the formation of People's Republic of China in 1949. One of the most basic policies for the new Indian government was that of maintaining cordial relations with China, reviving its ancient friendly ties. India

2835-542: The pilots and their navigators. Both man and machine are stretched to the limits of their capabilities. Helicopter operations also form a critical part of the responsibilities of the Easter Air Command. For the pilots who negotiate this remote and inaccessible terrain, the experience gained over the last five decades has been well assimilated. The contribution of Eastern Air Command in bringing relief and in aiding civilian population in times of calamity and strife

2898-583: The region, as their claims shifted with the political situation. From 1917 to 1933, the "Postal Atlas of China", published by the Government of China in Peking had shown the boundary in Aksai Chin as per the Johnson line, which runs along the Kunlun Mountains . The "Peking University Atlas", published in 1925, also put the Aksai Chin in India. The use of Johnson line or Macartney-MacDonald line

2961-472: The region. The high altitude and freezing conditions caused logistical and welfare difficulties. In past similar conflicts, such as the Italian Campaign of World War I , harsh conditions have caused more casualties than have enemy actions. The Sino-Indian War was no different, with many troops on both sides succumbing to the freezing cold temperatures. The main cause of the war was a dispute over

3024-644: The sale of advanced MiG fighter aircraft. Simultaneously, the United States and the United Kingdom refused to sell advanced weaponry to India, further compelling it to turn to the Soviets for military aid. China and India shared a long border, sectioned into three stretches by Nepal , Sikkim (then an Indian protectorate ), and Bhutan , which follows the Himalayas between Burma and what

3087-558: The same title. If an internal link referred you to this page, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. [REDACTED] Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eastern_Air_Command&oldid=1067024312 " Category : Military units and formations disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Eastern Air Command (India) The Eastern Air Command has

3150-432: The summer of 1961, China began patrolling along the McMahon Line. They entered parts of Indian administered regions and much angered the Indians in doing so. The Chinese, however, did not believe they were intruding upon Indian territory. In response the Indians launched a policy of creating outposts behind the Chinese troops so as to cut off their supplies and force their return to China. On 5 December 1961 orders went to

3213-413: The trade routes from Ladakh. Starting from Leh , there were two main routes into Central Asia: one passed through the Karakoram Pass to Shahidulla at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains and went on to Yarkand through the Kilian and Sanju passes; the other went east via the Chang Chenmo Valley , passed the Lingzi Tang Plains in the Aksai Chin region, and followed the course of the Karakash River to join

SECTION 50

#1732772020640

3276-490: The tribal territory within its control. The British boundary, also called the "Outer Line", was defined to mark the limits of British jurisdiction. But it was not significantly different from the Inner Line in this region. By 1873, it was clear that the British treated the Tawang Tract as part of Tibet. This boundary was confirmed in a 1 June 1912 note from the British General Staff in India. In 1904, in order to skew Tibet away from Russian influence, an Anglo-Tibetan treaty

3339-475: The two countries after the 1959 Tibetan uprising , when India granted asylum to the Dalai Lama . Chinese military action grew increasingly aggressive after India rejected proposed Chinese diplomatic settlements throughout 1960–1962, with China resuming previously banned "forward patrols" in Ladakh after 30 April 1962. Amidst the Cuban Missile Crisis , China abandoned all attempts towards a peaceful resolution on 20 October 1962, invading disputed territory along

3402-478: Was already under Chinese jurisdiction and that the McCartney-MacDonald Line was the line China could accept. Zhou later argued that as the boundary was undemarcated and had never been defined by treaty between any Chinese or Indian government, the Indian government could not unilaterally define Aksai Chin's borders. In 1954, Nehru wrote a memo calling for India's borders to be clearly defined and demarcated; in line with previous Indian philosophy, Indian maps showed

3465-430: Was among the first nations to grant diplomatic recognition to the newly created PRC. In 1950, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) invaded Tibet , which the Chinese governments regarded as still part of China. Later the Chinese extended their influence by building a road in 1956–67 and placing border posts in Aksai Chin. India protested against these moves and decided to look for a diplomatic solution to ensure

3528-506: Was assessed as being a feasible way to counter the unfavourable ratio of Chinese to Indian troops. In June, a skirmish caused the deaths of dozens of Chinese troops. The Indian Intelligence Bureau received information about a Chinese buildup along the border which could be a precursor to war. During June–July 1962, Indian military planners began advocating "probing actions" against the Chinese, and accordingly, moved mountain troops forward to cut off Chinese supply lines. According to Patterson,

3591-447: Was at Brinjga, in the Kunlun mountains, and the entire Karakash Valley was within the territory of Kashmir. The boundary of Kashmir that he drew, stretching from Sanju Pass to the eastern edge of Chang Chenmo Valley along the Kunlun mountains, is referred to as the " Johnson Line " (or "Ardagh-Johnson Line"). After the Chinese reconquered Turkestan in 1878, renaming it Xinjiang, they again reverted to their traditional boundary. By now,

3654-438: Was defined by the Viceroy Lord Elgin and communicated to London. The British government in due course proposed it to China via its envoy Sir Claude MacDonald in 1899. This boundary, which came to be called the Macartney–MacDonald Line , ceded to China the Aksai Chin plains in the northeast, and the Trans-Karakoram Tract in the north. In return, the British wanted China to cede its 'shadowy suzerainty' on Hunza . Following

3717-408: Was neglected by the colonial administrators and by 1947, when India gained independence , the British left the government of India with high ambiguity about the settled border to the North. The Indian government choose to lay claim to Aksai Chin after 1947. On 1 July 1954, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru definitively stated the Indian position, claiming that Aksai Chin had been part of

3780-450: Was the "Indus watershed", i.e., the water-parting from which waters flow into the Indus river system on one side and into the Tarim basin on the other. In the north, this water-parting was along the Karakoram range. In the east, it was more complicated because the Chip Chap River , Galwan River and the Chang Chenmo River flow into the Indus whereas the Karakash River flows into the Tarim basin. A boundary alignment along this water-parting

3843-402: Was then West Pakistan . A number of disputed regions lie along this border. At its western end is the Aksai Chin region, an area the size of Switzerland , that sits between the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang and Tibet , which China declared as an autonomous region in 1965. The eastern border, between Burma and Bhutan, comprises the present Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh , formerly

SECTION 60

#1732772020640

3906-489: Was to negotiate with Tibet "except through the intermediary of the Chinese government". The British and Russians cancelled the 1907 agreement by joint consent in 1921. It was not until the late 1930s that the British started to use the McMahon Line on official maps of the region. China took the position that the Tibetan government should not have been allowed to make such a treaty, rejecting Tibet's claims of independent rule. For its part, Tibet did not object to any section of

3969-426: Was written called the Convention of Lhasa . This treaty alarmed the Chinese which started displaying power by crushing rebellions and erecting flags and boundary stones in the Lohit Valley which were mostly removed by the British by 1910. Such aggression from the Chinese conveyed to the Colonial administration that the Tawang tract could serve as a route of invasion in the future. After the 1911 Revolution , UK sat

#639360