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In the India-China context, the "total war" concept is irrelevant because neither country's armed forces have the ability to comprehensively defeat the armed forces of the other. The Chinese cannot hope to defeat the several million strong Indian armed forces and march into Delhi. Not least because India may attempt to deploy nukes as a last resort.This is a bit OT, but I think it should be considered that India has NEVER, in its history as an independent country or before, fought a "total war". All wars that were waged by India were waged by the Indian Armed Forces, not the Indian people. The same is also true for Pakistan.
On the other hand, China has experience fighting total wars, both from the Second Sino-Japanese War (which was a fight for national survival) and the Chinese Civil War that followed. China in those days was a poor, undeveloped country with hardly any industrial capability, but the Chinese people showed that they were capable of withstanding tremendous hardship in the face of a superior, technologically advanced enemy, and were able to ultimately prevail through a sheer war of attrition (somewhat similar to the case of Soviet Union vs. Germany).
Similarly, India does not have the capability to defeat the PLA, so there's no question of a "total war".
I would be a bit cautious in applying historical examples to draw conclusions about today's India. Throughout history, there was rarely a pan-Indian nationalist empire emphasizing the Indian identity over caste, religious or linguistic identities. Large Indian kingdoms were always fractured by internal differences. If you look at smaller kingdoms though, you will see that in cases of foreign aggression, many of the kings and their relatives fought to their deaths on the battlefield while the womenfolk committed suicide.However, in the case of a total war scenario involving India, I have my sincere doubts as to whether the people of India would show similar determination and steadfastness in the face of the enemy. If history is any indicator of the future, quite a few Indians would probably try to collaborate with the enemy, and many would probably be passive towards the war effort. It would be the ultimate test for the Republic of India, and would show whether or not there is anything concrete behind Indian nationalism.
Even in the Mahabharata, the Kauravas fought to the bitter end without compromising on their war aims.
While it is not quite the same as a "total war" in the European sense, due to the clearly defined caste identities in Indian society, the non-Kshatriya castes generally did not generally take up arms.