By Nidhi Razdan
Lhasa/New Delhi, June 20 – For more than 50 years, Tibet has been a very sensitive issue between India and China because Tibet’s government-in-exile led by the Dalai Lama has its headquarters in Dharamsala.
In fact, Beijing will convey its concerns to Prime Minister Vajpayee during his trip to China next week even as India tries hard to balance its interests between China and Tibet.
A billboard bearing the portraits of Mao, Deng and Jiang greets visitors on their entry to Tibet’s capital Lhasa. It’s symbolic of Chinese control over Tibet, which in the past has seen bloody rebellions against Beijing.
But New Delhi is coming to terms with China’s firm grip on Tibet. Officially, India recognises China’s suzerainty over Tibet – that Tibet is an autonomous part of China.
However, China wants a recognition of its sovereignty over Tibet and seeks a clamp down on the activities of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who lives in Dharamsala and runs the Tibetan government-in-exile from there. Sources in the Chinese government say these concerns will be brought up during Vajpayee’s visit to China.
Similar concerns were aired by China’s deputy Foreign Minister in an interview to NDTV in Beijing last year.
“We think that sometimes the Indian government keeps its promise of curbing the activities of the Dalai Lama, but India can do a lot more to stop the secessionist activities of the Dalai Lama,” said China’s deputy foreign minister Wang Yi in August last year.
India has always maintained moral support for the Tibetans citing a cultural affinity that goes back hundreds of years. But India also has its security concerns and is keen to avoid a large Chinese military build up in Tibet. Until the Chinese army invaded Tibet in the early 1950s, Tibet was a buffer between India and China.
At the same time, New Delhi does not want to annoy Beijing, which is now a key strategic and economic power. Keeping in line with this perception, there’s been a shift in the Indian policy towards Tibet. India is now encouraging a political settlement of the issue.
“The Dalai Lama lives here. So do his followers. But I do not think it’s affected relations between the two sides. Their leaders have come here, we have gone there. So there is no misunderstanding as such,” says Defence Minister George Fernandes.
India’s policy towards Tibet has changed over the years. From active support to Tibetan rebels in the 1950s and 1960s, to today’s balancing act where New Delhi is urging both sides to reach a political settlement. The most encouraging development in the last six months is that the Dalai Lama’s envoys have visited China twice to pave the way for formal talks.
