An average Indian thinks only Pakistan is an intruder with respect to J&K; actually China and Pakistan hold equal shares ( 33% each).

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) of mainland China invaded India from Tibet on 20-Oct-1962. Some 20,000 troops poured into the passes from Tibet into Arunachal Pradesh, (then called NEFA) and the Ladakh sector of J&K. In NEFA, the Chinese army smashed in around 70 kms inside the Indian borders and came close to taking the strategic town of Tezpur before unilaterally withdrawing its troops on within 30 days back to the Tibet border (the MacMahon line) but refused to pull out of the Aksai Chin area of Ladakh (J&K).

This was an obvious move, since they wanted control of the strategic highway connecting Tibet with Sinkiang provice (both occupied and troublesome provinces of China since the late 1940"s). This highway, often referred to as the Old Silk Route traversed by ancient merchant caravans and Marco Polo) is a strategically located mountain plateau part of north eastern Kashmir. The Chinese army had already scouted these areas even when they were supposed to be in the control of India in the late 1950"s and there were several instances when there had been minor skirmishes with the Indian border patrols. These skirmishes were hidden from public attention by India's then Prime Minister Jawarharlal Nehru who practised the "Ostrich policy" with China, hoping to appease the aggressive dragon. Thus the Chinese had no difficulty in dislodging the meagre and ill-equipped solitary Indian soldiers in the soda plains and Haji Langar which the Chinese still retain till date. There were also skirmishes along the Chushul sector before the 1962 war and someland along the western shores of the Pangong-Tso lake in south-eastern Ladhakh were occupied in advance. Needless to say, even these lands have not been returned back to us.

In all, around 55,000 sq. kms. of land is under Chinese occupation after the 1962 war. Then in 1963, under request from China, a sliver of land adjoining the Balotoro and Siachen glaciers (on the western periphery) and the Karakoram Pass (on the eastern periphery) was "ceded" by Pakistan. This was done prior to the construction of the Karakoram Highway linking Sinkiang of China with Peshawar in northern Pakistan running fully thru Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The complete construction of this high altitude highway cutting across some of the tallest peaks in the world (mount K2 and Nanga Parbat) was conceived, designed and executed totally by Chinese military and civil engineers working in the high mountain ranges of the Karakoram ranges of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the Gilgit and Hunza tribal territories. By ceding this sliver of land, China was able to gaurd the southern flank from possible Indian attack. Today the Karakoram Highway is one of the most heavily gaurded highways in the world.

Today, as the world cautions India, like hypocrites, they deliberately avoid seeing the heavily militarised areas around her border with China and Pakistan, both adjoining J&K and Tibet. Today, as the people of J&K die everyday due to indiscriminate shelling by Pakistani army and hundreds of Tibetans die in Tibet under ruthless Chinese occupation, the Himalayas remain one of the most restive and cursed regions of the world. A large part of the blame must surely go to India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who shamelessly surrendered the glory and honour of the mighty Indian Army to both Pakistan and China, all for political expediency. For him it was more important to be a world statesman than to protect the honour of his motherland. How very sad.

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