News Analysis India

Tag: Tibet

  • Incursions along Indo-Tibet border are by China, says Tibetan govt-in-exile

    By PTI

    KOLKATA:  Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong or President of the Tibetan Government-in-exile Tuesday asserted that all incursions along the Indo-Tibetan border have been one-sided and by China.

    In an interview with PTI, the President said since Tibet had signed the treaty of 1914 which set the border between his homeland and India along the McMohan line, Tawang was an integral part of India.

    “We know incursions are happening all from the Chinese side,” Tsering said here. He was speaking in the context of recent clashes at Tawang and at Ladakh between the Indian Army and China’s PLA.

    “Till 1959, there was no border between India and China; it was with Tibet. We are signatories to the 1914 Simla agreement and we recognise the McMohan line as the legitimate border,” he said.

    The Sikyong or President is directly elected by the Tibetan diaspora living in various parts of the world ever since Tibetan refugees fled the “roof of the world” in the wake of the Dalai Lama’s escape from Lhasa to India.

    “China’s belligerence is without any provocation from the Indian side,” the President said, adding that “India standing up to its position sends a very strong message to China.”

    He pointed out that China has disputes with many Asian countries and has been unwilling to settle them.

    “When it comes to US-China relations, they (the Chinese) complain they are not treated as equals but when it comes to other countries in Asia,” they never treat them equally, Tsering asserted.

    He claimed China has a policy of keeping hot spots like Taiwan and Tawang burning in order to divert attention to its own failings.

    He said that China had not been successful in keeping its economic momentum up and had not been able to control the Covid situation at home. “Now that the whole world has recovered, they want to export Covid again,” Tsering said.

    ALSO READ| China didn’t observe agreements with India, tried to ‘unilaterally change’ LAC: Jaishankar

    KOLKATA:  Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong or President of the Tibetan Government-in-exile Tuesday asserted that all incursions along the Indo-Tibetan border have been one-sided and by China.

    In an interview with PTI, the President said since Tibet had signed the treaty of 1914 which set the border between his homeland and India along the McMohan line, Tawang was an integral part of India.

    “We know incursions are happening all from the Chinese side,” Tsering said here. He was speaking in the context of recent clashes at Tawang and at Ladakh between the Indian Army and China’s PLA.

    “Till 1959, there was no border between India and China; it was with Tibet. We are signatories to the 1914 Simla agreement and we recognise the McMohan line as the legitimate border,” he said.

    The Sikyong or President is directly elected by the Tibetan diaspora living in various parts of the world ever since Tibetan refugees fled the “roof of the world” in the wake of the Dalai Lama’s escape from Lhasa to India.

    “China’s belligerence is without any provocation from the Indian side,” the President said, adding that “India standing up to its position sends a very strong message to China.”

    He pointed out that China has disputes with many Asian countries and has been unwilling to settle them.

    “When it comes to US-China relations, they (the Chinese) complain they are not treated as equals but when it comes to other countries in Asia,” they never treat them equally, Tsering asserted.

    He claimed China has a policy of keeping hot spots like Taiwan and Tawang burning in order to divert attention to its own failings.

    He said that China had not been successful in keeping its economic momentum up and had not been able to control the Covid situation at home. “Now that the whole world has recovered, they want to export Covid again,” Tsering said.

    ALSO READ| China didn’t observe agreements with India, tried to ‘unilaterally change’ LAC: Jaishankar

  • Tibetans in India support ‘zero COVID’ protesters in China

    By Associated Press

    NEW DELHI: About 150 Tibetan exiles held up blank pieces of paper as they rallied in India’s capital on Friday to express solidarity with people in China protesting its “zero COVID” policy.

    The blank paper is a symbol of defiance used by some protesters in China against the ruling Communist Party’s widespread censorship.

    Street protests broke out in several Chinese cities over the weekend driven by anger over rigid restrictions to combat COVID-19. The “zero COVID” policy seeks to eradicate the virus through sweeping lockdowns, travel restrictions and relentless testing.

    Since the protests, some Chinese cities have eased anti-virus restrictions as the government tries to defuse public anger.

    The demonstration in New Delhi was organized by the Tibetan Youth Congress, which supports the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader. It was held at Jantar Mantar, an area designated by authorities for protests near India’s Parliament building.

    The protesters called for Chinese President Xi Jinping to step down and chanted “Stop genocide in China” and “Free Tibet, Free China.”

    Tenzin Tsundue, a writer and member of the Tibetan Youth Congress, said he was excited that Chinese people are speaking out against restrictions and demanding freedom and democracy.

    “When protests are happening in China it is important for us to send this message to the people in China that we stand with you,” Tenzin said.

    A large number of Tibetans have been living in exile in India since the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese control. China doesn’t recognize the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile in India and rejects the Dalai Lama’s quest for greater Tibetan autonomy from Beijing.

    The government-in-exile expressed deep concern on Friday over the situation in China and said it stood in solidarity with people protesting COVID-19 restrictions.

    It said the areas with lockdowns included Lhasa in Tibet.

    “This has caused immeasurable hardship as people faced extreme restrictions on movement, inadequate access to food and medicine, loss of livelihood and mental anguish,” it said in a statement.

    NEW DELHI: About 150 Tibetan exiles held up blank pieces of paper as they rallied in India’s capital on Friday to express solidarity with people in China protesting its “zero COVID” policy.

    The blank paper is a symbol of defiance used by some protesters in China against the ruling Communist Party’s widespread censorship.

    Street protests broke out in several Chinese cities over the weekend driven by anger over rigid restrictions to combat COVID-19. The “zero COVID” policy seeks to eradicate the virus through sweeping lockdowns, travel restrictions and relentless testing.

    Since the protests, some Chinese cities have eased anti-virus restrictions as the government tries to defuse public anger.

    The demonstration in New Delhi was organized by the Tibetan Youth Congress, which supports the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader. It was held at Jantar Mantar, an area designated by authorities for protests near India’s Parliament building.

    The protesters called for Chinese President Xi Jinping to step down and chanted “Stop genocide in China” and “Free Tibet, Free China.”

    Tenzin Tsundue, a writer and member of the Tibetan Youth Congress, said he was excited that Chinese people are speaking out against restrictions and demanding freedom and democracy.

    “When protests are happening in China it is important for us to send this message to the people in China that we stand with you,” Tenzin said.

    A large number of Tibetans have been living in exile in India since the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese control. China doesn’t recognize the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile in India and rejects the Dalai Lama’s quest for greater Tibetan autonomy from Beijing.

    The government-in-exile expressed deep concern on Friday over the situation in China and said it stood in solidarity with people protesting COVID-19 restrictions.

    It said the areas with lockdowns included Lhasa in Tibet.

    “This has caused immeasurable hardship as people faced extreme restrictions on movement, inadequate access to food and medicine, loss of livelihood and mental anguish,” it said in a statement.

  • Tibet plays important role in complex India-China ties: Ex-diplomat Nirupama Rao

    By Express News Service

    BENGALURU: India’s former foreign secretary Nirupama Rao in an interaction on her book ‘The Fractured Himalaya: India, Tibet, China, 1949-1962’ spoke about the Indo-China relations then and now and the influence of the 13-year period that preceded the Indo-China war in 1962 on the relations between the two neighbours with Tibet at the centre.

    “From the start, the India-China relationship was in fact a three-body problem, with Tibet at the geographical and diplomatic centre of the nascent relationship,” said Rao. The event was organised by the Synergia Foundation – a city-based strategy think tank.

    She said that following the tragic events in the Galwan Valley in 2020, the focus is back on Indo-China relations. “We need a wide-angled perspective to recall the early history of this relationship. Both India and China were very young and in the process of national consolidation and influencing our roles on the world stage. What happened in those years has quite an influence on Indo-China relations even today,” said Rao.

    She added, “An industry has grown abouat blaming Jawaharlal Nehru for everything that happened during that period. He had his flaws, but his follies cannot be textbook gospel. His decisions were made in real time. India was a young country and Nehru’s contribution in nation building cannot be ignored. He saw the reality of the coming of the Communists and was subconsciously worried about China’s expansionism. He was concerned about safeguarding our borders. Nehru was the first person to own his failure in the China policy, which had deep linkages with the Tibetan issue. He had granted His Holiness the Dalai Lama asylum in India and Tibetans recognised him as Dharmaraja, but he focused more on building relationships with China and felt that Tibet was a lost cause,” said the former diplomat. She added that there were weaknesses, mistakes but we need to understand the circumstances in which decisions were made and how they were made in real time.

    Rao said India’s ties with Tibet are very complex and are not only dictated by geography but by trade, pilgrimage and cultural osmosis. The presence of the Dalai Lama and his whole succession question continues to be strongly opposed by China. She spoke at length about the people in the Himalayan region on either side of the border and about the strong cultural and trade linkages. 

    She said that she has been asked why a book like this is necessary at this point in time because this subject has been researched and written extensively for many years. “We fought the 1962 war, the 60th anniversary of which is coming up. There’s no end to analysis of events and people involved in the era. My interpretation of that period is that of a diplomat practitioner. I studied the subject when I was in the Indian Foreign Service and I dealt with the bilateral relationships between India and China much before I was posted as Ambassador to Beijing,” she said. “My aim was to provide a rational understanding of the complex relationships between India and China,” said the former diplomat.

  • In move likely to irk China, US Secretary of State Blinken meets Tibetan leader in Delhi

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: In a move that is likely to ruffle feathers in China, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday held a meeting with the Dalai Lama’s representative Ngodup Dongchung in the capital.

    The development was confirmed by the spokesperson of the Tibetan Government in Exile, also known as the Central Tibetan Administration, Tenzin Lekshay. “The two leaders met for around 10 minutes,” Lakshay said.

    The meeting is the second between US government officials and the CTA after the November visit of former head of the CTA Lobsang Sangay to the White House. It also comes days after Chinese President Xi Jinping made an unannounced visit to the region to review development projects. The last high profile meeting between the US and Tibet came in 2016 when the Dalai Lama visited Washington and metthen President Barack Obama.

    ALSO READ: Jaishankar and Blinken hold talks on wide-ranging issues

    Blinken’s Tibetan engagement continued after the Director of the Tibet House and the former interpreter of the Dalai Lama, Geshe Dorjee Damdul, were present at his meeting with civil society members. The Blinken-Dongchung meeting assumes significance as Washington has been consistently expressing concerns over human rights violations in Tibet and the Xinjiang region of China.

    Experts believe that Blinken’s meeting with leaders of the CTA will make it clear that the US is serious in engaging with Tibetan leaders and the office of the special coordinator for Tibetan issues was not a symbolic gesture by the Trump administration.

    “Blinken’s visit to Tibet House underscores the fact that the US is serious in engaging Tibetan leaders and international partners to address its concerns on issues pertaining to Tibet including human rights and religious freedom so that a meaningful dialogue is promoted between China and the Dalai Lama. This in essence has been defined as the purpose behind the establishment of such an office by the US State department,” Sinologist BR Deepak said.

  • PM Modi wishing Dalai Lama a message for China: Tibetologist

    Express News Service
    BENGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday morning called the Dalai Lama and wished him on his 86th birthday. “It is the first time that an Indian Prime Minister phoned the Dalai Lama on his birthday. It’s a great message for China at a time of renewed tensions on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). It is a message for the Tibetans that India cares for the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people,” said the well-known Tibetologist Claude Arpi.

    The Dalai Lama, in a video message posted on Facebook, thanked all his well-wishers. “I want to express my deep appreciation to all my friends, who showed me love, respect and trust. For myself, for the rest of my life, I am committed to serving humanity and protection of climate condition,” said the Dalai Lama.

    He added that since he became a “refugee and settled in India, I have fully utilized India’s freedom and religious harmony. I really appreciate India’s concept of secular values with honesty, karuna (compassion) and ahimsa (non-violence). I am committed to non-violence and compassion until my death. I hope all my human brothers and sisters will also keep non-violence and compassion till their death,” said the Nobel laureate and the highest spiritual leader of Tibet.

    Meanwhile, the Tibetans living in exile in Bengaluru and the five settlements in Karnataka on Tuesday celebrated the 86th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Karnataka has the biggest Tibetan settlements in the world – at Bylakuppe and Hunsur in Mysuru district, Kollegal in Chamarajanagar district and Mundgod in Karwar district.

    “Every year we celebrate His Holiness’ birthday with group prayers, chanting of ‘Om Mani Padmi Hum’ – one of the most revered Buddhist mantras – a thousand times, cutting of cake, singing and dancing among other festivities. This year, because of the Covid restrictions, we had limited the festivities to smaller groups,” said the Chief Representative, South India, Central Tibetan Administration (in exile) Thupten Tsering.