In 1950, China first invaded Tibet. At that time, Harry Truman and later on, Eisenhower - requested Nehru to give permission to US Army troops to set up base in India and attack the Chinese Army and repel the invaders. Tibet would have been an ideal buffer state and would have fulfilled the same role as Afghanistan and Bhutan. Remember, Afghanistan has always been friendly with India and has always been at odds with Pakistan. Same could have happened with Tibet.
Nehru wanted to show himself as a emerging leader of the non aligned world and had always been left of centre and pro communist. He refused Trueman. This would cost us dearly in 1962 when China attacked us and defeated us in the North East. A defeat of China would have ensured that communism did not spread and would have weakened China militarily. When confronted with a real military power, the Chinese have always faltered - be it the Sino Russian war in Ussuryisk Krai in 1969 or the border war with Vietnam.
In 1958, the Khampas - traditional tibetan warriors - resisted the Chinese gallantly but were all routed.
India should now strongly take up the cause of Tibet. Tibet is the baby seal of freedom movements round the world. We are now economically strong and do not have to kowtow to the Chinese.
