The recent visit of a bipartisan delegation of U S lawmakers to New Delhi and Dharamshala marks a significant moment in the US diplomacy in the region
A Tibet festival started on 3 September at India International Centre New Delhi to celebrate its rich Buddhist heritage, culture and identity. The Sikyong (head) of Central Tibet Administration, Penpa Tshering, will preside over various activities to highlight Tibet’s geo-strategic, spiritual and cultural importance for India.
His Holiness Dalai Lama at 89, is in a New York hospital for medical treatment but is considered in good health. US Special Coordinator on Tibet, Uzra Jeya met him which elicited “immediate (solemn) protest from China”. Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said: “we don’t allow Dalai Lama to engage in political activities in the US”. Backchannel talks between the Dalai Lama envoy and China have been going on for an undisclosed period though Beijing does not confirm them. Talks are being pushed by the US House Resolution Resolve Tibet Act July 2024 which calls for restoration of its full autonomy.India needs to add its voice for Tibet’s autonomy both internally and externally as part of a broader coalition. India’s recognition of full Chinese sovereignty over Tibet was based on Beijing granting and implementing Tibet’s autonomy. Instead, China has quashed Tibet’s autonomy and trade treaties opening for India to take a more nuanced position.
Two issues require GoI’s prompt attention: the Dalai Lama succession; and the border issue including restoration of peace and tranquillity and full disengagement in east Ladakh. The visit of a bipartisan US delegation of lawmakers to Dharamsala and Delhi and being received both by Dalai Lama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was significant. China baiter Nancy Pelosi had some unpleasant things to say about President Xi Jinping that drew Chinese ire. On the ground, the sinicisation process of Xijang (Tibet) started in the mid-1960s. The time-tested method of injecting 7.5 mn Han Chinese into Tibet along with neutralization of Tibetan Buddhism by deploying Chinese monks in Tibetan monasteries was designed to change the heart and soul of Tibet. Soon militarisation and infrastructure construction began which has hurt the environment. USD 5.8bn was spent on the Sichuan to Tibet railways system which is being extended to borders with India, Nepal and Bhutan.
A new border law has led to the building of 628 well-off border villages close to or encroached into neighbouring countries. In 1965 Convenience Police Stations were constructed as a key security innovation: Big Brother is Watching. By 2011 Tibet Autonomous Region advertised for 2500 police stations with 458 designated for Lhasa alone. By 2016, this grid-style social management of Tibet had recruited thousands of Han Chinese and some Tibetan policemen.
A Chinese Communist Party (CCP) political secretary has always kept a hawk-eye vigil over Tibet which is run by the CCP from Beijing. Internal policing has resulted in fostering a feeling of ‘otherness’ by the surveillance drive. There are reports that attempts are being made to recruit Tibetans into the PLA including some forcible intake.
The day is not far when some Nepalese might opt to join PLA for other than the South West Theatre Command in Tibet. This will be the result of the ill-conceived Agniveer policy. The Chinese Renaming Campaign has resulted in what Forum for Non-Violent Alternatives (FNVA) has called ‘Thread of Beads: an analysis of renaming 62 locations in India’s Arunachal Pradesh since 2017’. China claims that 90 per cent of Zangnan (Arunachal Pradesh) is illegally occupied by India. Chief Minister Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has suggested renaming 62 locations in Tibet. This is not likely to irk the Chinese. The Chinese renaming drive was done in four phases in 2017, 2021, 2023 and 2024.
It had been supplemented by salami-slicing into Nepal and Bhutan by building Xiakong villages (well-off) in contested areas to strengthen their claims to them. While Nepal and Bhutan are pretending this has not happened or happening, India is building some 600 vibrant villages for which funds have been released. Numerous encroachments have taken place in India also.The strategic importance of Tibet for India cannot be overstated.
The root of the border problem and the Tibet issue is India’s failure to comprehend its significance in time and act. In C Eastern Command, Lt Gen Sir Francis Tucker had foreseen in 1946 in a paper he wrote that India must prevent China from occupying Tibet and be prepared to occupy it. This did not happen for which we are paying now. The priority for now is to coordinate with Dalai Lama to articulate his succession. The Dalai Lama has been silent on it for some time now but has spoken and written about it in the past.
The Chinese are bound to appoint their own Dalai Lama as they appointed a Panchen Lama (second to Dalai Lama) Gyaltsen Norbu. This must be preempted. The CTA is preparing a new map of Tibet with the help of cartographic experts from Princeton University in the US.
The issue of the map and India announcing the contours of its Tibet policy including the border and full disengagement of PLA from its intrusions in east Ladakh have to be coordinated with CTA. A succession policy should also be outlined. With Tibetans migrating to the US and soon the majority of Tibetans residing there than in India, the Tibet issue may vanish leaving Delhi with no potential leverage against Beijing.
(The writer, a retired Major General, was Commander, IPKF South, Sri Lanka, and founder member of the Defence Planning Staff, currently the Integrated Defence Staff; views are personal)
