When Indian and Chinese troops saved Hong Kong from Japan

On a trail to discover the footprints of Indian troops in China in the last two centuries, a senior Indian military official has stumbled upon many instances when Indian sepoys fought alongside the Chinese against foreign invasion.

The presence of Indian troops in China under Portuguese and British had a fascinating history which was well catalogued and preserved in Chinese museums, Col G Jaishankar, defence attaché, Indian Embassy, said while making a presentation on 'Indian Troops In China' at the Indian Cultural Centre in Beijing on Wednesday.

In his research, the first by an Indian official about presence of Indian troops in China, Col Jaishankar found out how the Indian and Chinese troops fought together to stave off Japanese invasion of Hong Kong, contrary to the tense stand-off that followed after the 1962 India-China war.

The attack by Japan took place on December 8, 1941, a day after Pearl Harbour bombing in the Second World War. Scores from the Sikh and Rajput regiments died while defending Hong Kong, he said.

The Commonwealth War Grave Commission has identified 585 Indian troops who perished in the battle.

In his voluntary research, Col Jaishankar came across a host of interesting details about how the Indian Sikh regiment came to the rescue of officials of 11 countries who were surrounded in Peking, (then Beijing) during 1898 Boxer uprising.

Few Indians and Defence Attaches of different embassies here were invited for his presentation. Indian Ambassador to Beijing S Jaishankar also attended the event.