November 21, 1962: The Sino-Indian War Ends

November 21, 1962: The Sino-Indian War ends, preventing a conflict between the 2 most populous nations on Earth from expanding into a wider war, possibly even World War III.

During the 1959 Tibetan uprising in southwestern China, India had granted political asylum to Tenzin Gyatso, who, as the 14th Dalai Lama, was the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, and the head of state of Tibet. Previous Chinese leaders had given Tibet varying measures of autonomy. But, since Mao Zedong founded it in 1949, the People's Republic of China has recognized Tibet as part of their country, and the Dalai Lama fled.

Since the '59 uprising, there were violent border skirmishes between China and India. Throughout 1962, there had been diplomatic attempts to reach a settlement, but they failed. On October 20, China invaded India at Ladakh.

Most of the fighting was in the mountains, with neither country using its navy (understandable) or its air force (considerably less understandable, as one or the other using it might have made a difference).

President John F. Kennedy, already dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis (which the world at large did not know about until October 22), was never going to aid China, because he viewed it as an ally of the Soviet Union. But, surprising the world, the Soviets supported India, selling them MiG fighter jets. Now knowing, for the first time -- perhaps a failure of the CIA and MI6 -- that there was a Sino-Soviet split, the U.S. and Britain announced their neutrality in the conflict.

As JFK and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev settled their conflict peacefully, the one between China and India turned into a stalemate. On November 20, China declared a ceasefire, and withdrew behind their border. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of India took this as a victory, and left things at that, refusing to punish China with an invasion of their territory.

China claimed to have lost 722 men, and killed 5,000 Indian troops. India claimed to have lost 1,383 men, and killed around the same number of Chinese troops. Despite various tensions, the 2 countries have never fought each other again.

As of November 21, 2022, the 14th Dalai Lama is 87 years old, and still promoting peace and his faith around the world. In 1989, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

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November 21, 1962 was a Wednesday. Gospel singer Steven Curtis Chapman was born.

Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. There were 4 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Chicago Zephyrs, 137-108 at the Chicago Coliseum. Terry Dischinger scored 37 in defeat for the Zephyrs, who became the Baltimore Bullets the next season, and are now the Washington Wizards.

* The Boston Celtics beat the St. Louis Hawks, 115-106 at the Boston Garden.

* The Syracuse Nationals beat the Detroit Pistons, 122-120 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. The Nats became the Philadelphia 76ers the next season.

* And the Cincinnati Royals beat the San Francisco Warriors, 143-139 at the Cow Palace in the San Francisco suburb of Daly City, California. For the Royals, Oscar Robertson scored 40, and Jack Twyman scored 31. For the Warriors, Wilt Chamberlain scored 61 and had 22 rebounds, while Guy Rodgers scored 26.