After the horrible war, China reached its claim lines and did not advance farther. Under immense international pressures, on 19 November Zhou Enlai declared a unilateral cease-fire. By then, 1,383 Indian jawans were killed, 1,047 were wounded, 1,696 went missing and 3,968 were captured. While 722 Chinese soldiers were killed and 1,697 were wounded.
Many countries across the world criticized the Chinese for the uncalled war. The United States viewed this as part of the China's policy of making use of aggressive wars to settle its border disputes and to distract from its internal issues. The Kennedy administration was disturbed by what they considered "blatant Chinese communist aggression against India". In a May 1963 National Security Council meeting, contingency planning on the part of the United States in the event of another Chinese attack on India was discussed. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and General Maxwell Taylor advised the president to use nuclear weapons should the Americans intervene in such a situation. Kennedy insisted that Washington defend India as it would any ally, saying, "We should defend India, and therefore we will defend India".
While Western nations did not view Chinese actions favourably, Pakistan, improved its relations with China after the war. Prior to the war, Pakistan also shared a disputed boundary with China, and had proposed to India that the two countries adopt a common defence against "northern" enemies, which was rejected by India. However, China and Pakistan took steps to peacefully negotiate their shared boundaries, beginning on 13 October 1962, and concluding in December of that year.