There's one thing India should thank China for - the 1962 War. Without that backstab, Indians would have remained unware of military weakness. There would be no pressure on Nehru to buy weapons. Thread exlains:
1. In 1951, General KM Cariappa apprised Nehru of the Chinese threat.

2. Nehru scolded Cariappa, "It is not the business of the Commander-in-Chief to tell the PM who is going to attack us where. In fact, the Chinese will defend our NEFA frontier. You mind only Kashmir and Pakistan."

3. In 1950, Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had warned Nehru about China: “It looks as though it is not a friend speaking in that language but a potential enemy.” But Nehru remained unruffled and as did nothing.

4. While China was building roads into Tibet and preparing for an invasion with 80,000 troops, Nehru and his sidekick Krishna Menon kept deluding Indians and lied to Parliament that China had only peaceful intentions.

5. The army's pleas to give it the weapons needed to defend India were harshly rebuffed by Nehru and Krishna Menon, who acted more like China's Defence Minister than India's. For instance, in Aksai Chin, in one area 60 Jats soldiers were positioned against 2,000 Chinese troops.

6. The 1962 Chinese invasion caught India completely unprepared. At this point, like a beggar Nehru begged the US which supplied a huge quality of weapons. So did Israel, which Nehru had refused to recognise. (In fact, it was recognised only after AB Vajpayee came to power.)

7. The decable forced Nehru to finally allow the Ordnance Factory Boards to start manufacturing weapons, including recoilless anti-tank rifles, mortars and ammunition. The Indian Army acquired large quanities of the Centurion tank from the UK.

8. Meanwhile, Pakistan had received from the US vast quantities of free weapons (worth $30 billion in today's dollars) including latest F-104 and F-86 fighters and heavy Patton tanks. Plus, a submarine while India had none. Fully armed, Pak was tempted to have a crack at India.

9. The thinking in Pakistan was India was weak, having suffered a debacle just 3 years ago. Gen Ayub Khan said, “As a general rule Hindu morale would not stand more than a couple of hard blows at the right time and place.” 1 Pakistani = 10 Indians was the belief in Pak fauj.

10. When Pak attacked Kashmir in 1965, India was no longer under Nehru. The hard as nails Lal Bahadur Shastri sent the Indian Army crashing through Pakistan Army's defences in Punjab. Within days, Indian soldiers reached outskirts of Lahore, Sialkot where they camped 5 months.

11. In the greatest tank battle after World War II, at the village of Assal Uttar, an Indian commander with three tank regiments totaling 135 tanks faced a Pakistani force of six regiments and about 264 tanks.

12. The Indian tanks poured their fire into the battlefield and were joined by infantry and artillery forces, quickly dismantling the Pakistani column. The destruction was so widespread that historians weren't able to pinpoint the exact number of Pakistani tanks destroyed.

13. With several graveyards of Patton tanks strewn across Punjab, Pakistan acknowledged that over half of its tank losses in the war came from that battle. It's estimated the Pakistan Army lost 99 tanks or more on that single day.

India lost 10 tanks.

14. Most of the weapons India deployed in 1965 against Pakistan were acquired after 1962 debacle. Had China not attacked, Nehru would not have given the go-ahead to buy these weapons. Pakistan would have enjoyed a cakewalk into Kashmir and Punjab. Amritsar would have been lost.

15. Instead, against all expectations (and hopeful predictions by US, British and Australians) India turned the tables on Pakistan. The Indian Army captured the strategic Haji Pir Pass in Kashmir plus 1,900 sq km of Pakistani territory in Punjab and Rajasthan.

16. With Indian troops camped out Lahore and Sialkot, it was a huge blow to the pride of the Pakistani Punjabis, who form the bulk of the Pakistan Army and ruling elites. They quickly sued for peace and got the Soviet Union involved which tricked India to declare a ceasefire.

17. Pakistani dictator Ayub Khan was so exasperated with the debacle that after the war he told his cabinet: “I want it understood that never again will we risk 100 million Pakistanis for five million Kashmiris, never again.”

18. Not all debacles are catastrophic. India must thank China for the stab in the back. It learnt its lessons from that conflict, armed up, and at the end of the 22-day war had its foot on Pakistan's throat. Plus, it had ammo to fight three more weeks while Pak had 3 days worth.

19. Similarly, the backstab in Galwan (although we killed double their troops) has created a huge wave of anger against China. People are boycotting Chinese goods. The average Indian has seen the ugly side of the communist regime which killed our 20 unarmed boys.

20. Knowing the enemy is key to winning the war. The political class and the IAS lobby can no longer sit on critical files. Army will get long-requested Mountain Division, howitzers, missiles. IAF will get more squadrons. New roads will get fast tracked.
Thank you China.
Ends