中印边界冲突背景下英国对印度国防建设的援助(1962-1963)

Britain’s Assistance toward India’s Defense Construction Under the Background of the Sino-Indian Border Conflict(1962-1963)

1962年中印边界冲突爆发后,尼赫鲁政府向英国和美国紧急寻求军事援助。更为重要的是,印度的国防政策在中印边界冲突后发生了转变,制定出以中国为主要军事防范对手的国防计划,谋求依靠大国援助以加快国家的军事现代化进程。作为英联邦领导国和印度国防装备的主要供应国,英国向印度提供了规模仅次于美国的军事援助,在印度国防建设过程中发挥了不可忽视的作用。从英印关系角度来看,麦克米伦政府的对印政策既有拉拢印度、遏制中国的冷战意识和维护英美关系的政治利益考虑,同时亦着眼于以最小的政治和经济代价维系它在南亚次大陆存续的帝国利益。但是,由于财政实力有限以及英联邦的政治束缚,英国无力满足印度日益膨胀的援助要求,逐渐丧失了对印度国防事务的影响力。从更宏观的层面来说,1962年中印边界冲突的历史遗产,绝不只是中印两国持续至今的争论和摩擦那么简单。

Once the Sino-Indian border conflict broke out in 1962,the Nehru government turned to the United Kingdom and the United States for emergent military assistance.More importantly,India’s defense policy has changed after the Sino-Indian border conflict.It has formulated a defense plan with China as its main military defense opponent,seeking to rely on assistance from major powers to accelerate the country’s military modernization process.As a leader of the Commonwealth and the main supplier of Indian defense equipment,the United Kingdom has provided India with military assistance second only to the United States in scale,and has played an important role in the construction of India’s defense.From the perspective of Anglo-Indian relations,the Macmillan administration’s India policy not only draws in India,contains China’s Cold War awareness,and maintains the political interests of Anglo-American relations,but also focuses on maintaining its presence in South Asia with minimal political and economic costs.However,due to its limited financial strength and the political constraints from the Commonwealth,the United Kingdom was unable to meet India’s growing assistance requirements and gradually lost its influence on India’s defense affairs.From the macro perspective,the historical legacy of the Sino-Indian border conflict in 1962 is beyond the disputes and frictions between China and India that last to the present.