Brahma Chellaney Flags Indo-tibetan Border Reality, Says India’s Timidity Fuels China Risks

Tibet remains astatine nan bosom of India-China relations, shaping nan heavy undercurrents of mistrust and strategical rivalry betwixt nan 2 neighbours. For India, Tibet’s past domiciled arsenic a buffer and nan beingness of nan Dalai Lama and nan Tibetan government-in-exile connected its ungraded support nan rumor politically and diplomatically sensitive.

Geopolitical expert Brahma Chellaney points retired that India’s Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,200-km separator pinch Tibet, not China, arsenic nan state’s main curate has asserted. This applies to India’s full Himalayan frontier, traditionally known arsenic nan Indo-Tibetan border. Yet, Chellaney argues, Tibet remains nan halfway rumor successful India-China relations — a reality often obscured by charismatic Indian timidity.

Border tensions betwixt India and China are tightly linked to Tibet’s analyzable history and strategical significance. China’s business of Tibet successful 1950 erased nan buffer that erstwhile separated nan 2 countries, pushing them into nonstop territorial disputes on nan immense Himalayan frontier.

China rejects nan McMahon Line — which India considers nan morganatic separator successful nan eastbound assemblage — branding it an imperial bequest imposed during Tibet’s semi-autonomous period. Clashes complete regions for illustration Aksai Chin successful nan westbound and Arunachal Pradesh successful nan eastbound person triggered conflicts, including nan 1962 warfare and much caller standoffs specified arsenic nan deadly 2020 Galwan Valley clash.

Tibet remains cardinal to these tensions. China’s clasp complete nan plateau strengthens its subject posture, while India’s hosting of nan Dalai Lama fuels negotiated friction. Unresolved separator issues, rooted successful Tibet’s position and humanities agreements, proceed to formed a agelong protector complete relations betwixt nan Asian giants.

Meanwhile, up of outer affairs curate S Jaishankar’s first sojourn to China since nan 2020 separator clashes, Beijing connected Sunday called Tibet-related matters — including nan reincarnation of nan Dalai Lama — a “thorn” successful bilateral ties and a “burden” for New Delhi.

Jaishankar is group to sojourn China this week, marking nan first specified travel since relations plunged to their lowest constituent successful six decades pursuing nan Ladakh standoff. Both sides are cautiously moving to normalise ties aft agreeing past October to disengage successful nan disputed region.

For Beijing, Tibet remains a captious frontier, tied intimately to territorial integrity and concerns complete separatism and overseas influence. While charismatic dialogues often skirt nonstop references to Tibet, nan region’s value endures, shaping separator disputes, information calculations crossed nan Himalayas, and broader geopolitical dynamics successful Asia.

Published on: Jul 13, 2025 6:56 PM IST