Himalayan War | |||||||||
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Part of Sino-Indian Proxy War | |||||||||
![]() BPLA Soldiers after the recapture of Lung Chen | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
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The Himalayan War (7th June 2034 – 1st January 2039), was the final conflict in the Sino-Indian Proxy War and the only conflict in which Chinese and Indian forces directly fought since the 1962 Sino-Indian conflict. The war was fought for the domination of the Himalayan region and marked the end of the Insurgency in North East India.
Timeline[]
Bhutanese Civil War[]
Capitalising on the chaos and general discontent towards the Bhutanese government and monarchy in the wake of the 2032 Bhutan Earthquake, the Chinese backed Maoist insurgent group, the Bhutanese People's Liberation Army (BPLU), took control of Lhuntse and the surrounding area, declaring the People's Republic of Bhutan. With Chinese military advisement the Insurgents began advancing towards the capital, capturing Jakar on the 21st February 2036.
Under the request of the Bhutanese government, India joined the war on the 28th February 2036 sending 48,000 'Peacekeeping Forces' to Thimphu. One week later the Indian-Bhutanese forces began the Lung Chen to push the Insurgents out of Bhutan. The outnumbered insurgents resorted to guerrilla tactics to delay the allied forces, requesting direct aid from China and Nepal.
On the 3rd of March, a coalition of China, Nepal, Pakistan and Myanmar issued a joint ultimatum to India requesting the withdrawal of their forces from Bhutan. The Indian government issued no response, so on the 11th March a Sino-Nepalese task force entered Bhutan.
With aid from the BPLA the Sino-Nepalese expeditionary forces recaptured much of the land lost during the Lung Chen offensive pushing the Indians and Loyalists out of Punakha district in July 2036. In October a stalemate was reached with Maoist forces less then 10km from Thimphu, with both sides were unwilling to further escalate the conflict due to the threat of a nuclear confrontation
Indian Invasion of Nepal[]
The war however put a strain on Nepalese military resources leaving much of Nepal's border with India relatively poorly defended. Hoping for a swift victory and end to the war by capturing the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, the Ambala II Indian Strike Corps crossed over the border into the Chitwan National Park on the 19th Novermber. The 3rd Nepali Combat Division, comprising of under 16,000 Soldiers to the Indian's 95,000 was forced to retreat, under heavy losses, to Makwanpur District where they were able to slow the Indian advance using both the mountainous terrain as well as local communist militias.
With the relocation of 3 Nepali Combat Divisions to Nepal as well as 2 PLA brigades to Makwanpur District the advance was halted.
The economic strain on India was starting to show. Their GDP growth in 2036 (2.9%) hit its lowest point since 1991. In early 2037 peace demonstrations broke out across India demanding an end to Indian involvement in the war. The PLA was held back, waiting for India to exit the war before they launched an offensive in Bhutan.
Escalation of the Conflict in India[]
Taking advantage of India's weakened state several dormant Indian insurgent groups, including the newly formed United Communist Party of India (UCPI) and the NSCN, broke their respective ceasefires with India in the June 2037. Against the wishes of China the Myanma based NSCN entered Nagaland province of India with over 12,000 Soldiers, capturing Ashu Igha and declaring the Socialist Republic of Naglim. This combined with a number of communist terror attacks on Indian government and military installations boosted both public and government support for the war as it was now an internal affair.