The Asian neighbours have been working to improve relations in recent months, following a deadly clash in 2020.
But the sensitivity of the border issue – one of the most intractable disputes between the two countries – can be traced back to the 1962 conflict, which left a profound fault line.
However, a peer-reviewed study by an Indian academic published earlier this year said “policies pursued by the United States and the Soviet Union during the late 1950s and early 1960s had a mix of intended and unintended consequences on India and China”.
“While the Soviets wanted to collaborate with India and China, the United States desired a clear split,” wrote Lakshmana Kumar, author of the April paper and a research scholar at the Jindal School of International Affairs in India.
The study drew on declassified documents from the US Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Council, State Department and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
