By Deborshi Chaki in Gangtok
June 27 — Amidst diminishing hopes of a Free-Tibet in the backdrop of new-found bonhomie between India and China, pro-Tibet groups have raised fears of a possiblenuclear holocaust in South Asia in the wake of the increased deployment of nuclear weapons in Tibetanplateau by China.
The concerns, although not new,have renaewed fears of radioactive contamination of the plateau. The direct threat to India’s security by Chinese ballistic missiles positioned in Tibet also weighed high as expertsdeliberated at length over these issues at a two-day seminar which concluded here today.
Organised for academic consumption, a rather significant portion of the seminar, however, was conspicuous in its objective of China bashing. “India’s security and the environmental cause of the entire South-east Asia go hand in hand with the Tibetan cause,” said Mr PT Gyamtso, Rajya Sabha MP and convener of the All-Party Parliamentary Forum on Tibet. “That China has deployed nuclear weapons in the Tibet region is not a secret anymore and the threat to India is more than real,” he added. “There is whole lot of ambiguity over the issue,” he said. “We hope the UPA government will initiate a dialogue with China in this regard soon,” said Mr Kharabela Swain, MP and member of an all-party parliamentary forum on Tibet.
With a rail line in place soon, the rugged terrain of the Tibetan plateau will no longer be a hindrance to Chinese military movement towards the Indian border.
