This monograph is a short summary of a study undertaken under the Field Marshal KM Cariappa Chair of Excellence at the United Service Institution of India, New Delhi. The study is divided in four parts, each covered in a volume. The four volumes respectively cover the periods 1947-1951, 1951-1954, 1954-1957 and 1957-1962. About the Author Claude Arpi was born in 1949 in Angoulême, France. Since 1974, he is settled in South India. He is the author of several books and more than two thousand articles on Tibet, China, India, defence, border issues and Indo-French relations. Claude Arpi held the Field Marshal KM Cariappa Chair of Excellence of the United Service Institution of India for his research on India- Tibet Relations.