Will The Tibetan Issue Condition - India-China Relations?

Will The Tibetan Issue Condition - India-China Relations?

by Bhaskar Roy

Unmistakable signals are coming from Beijing that the Chinese are making the Tibetan issue and the presence of the Dalai Lama the central consideration in the India-China political and strategic relations.

On his return from the China tour earlier this month, the Indian External Affairs Minister’s delegation gave out very little to the media and the public as to what transpired. In their briefings to the Indian media in Beijing during the tour the nice aspects were said – inauguration of the new Indian Consulate General in Guangdong, increasing bilateral trade, Indian aid to the Sichuan earthquake victims for which the Chinese leaders expressed appreciation, and the like. Beyond that little else was said. But the body language did not inspire euphoria among Indian China watchers, except perhaps for those who feel the best policy for India is that of a lackey to China to counter US “Imperialism”.

Some information filtered out though, and what was reported briefly gives rise to concern. One was Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi telling the Indian EAM to ensure that the Dalai Lama is not given space including by the Indian media. Mr. Yang did not have the patience to hear out Mr.Mukherjee’s explanation of the Indian political system. In fact, he did not care for it. He just demanded that the Dalai Lama is not given any exposure in India which, it can be presumed, included Ministers should not meet the Dalai Lama even in the latter’s position of a religious figure.

Next, Mr. Yang taught the Indian delegation to brush up their history. He emphasized that the new dispute over the “Finger Point” on Sikkim-Tibet boundary was administered by China since 1890. He also lectured the Indian side that there was difference between what the Indian border forces were reporting and what the Central Government was receiving, suggesting that in the Indian government the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing.

It was also reported that the Chinese side demanded a meeting between the Special Representatives (SRs) of the two countries on the border issue soonest possible, may be in June itself. Almost a directive.

There is a question - why Chinese premier Wen Jiabao cancelled a pre-scheduled meeting with Mr.Mukherjee and left for Sichuan to attend to the imminent breach a huge lake created by the earthquake? This does not appear to be a calculated insult. For Mr.Wen, that was a far more important duty of national importance to attend. Vice President Xi Jinping, the anointed successor of President and Communist Party Chief Hu Jintao, took his place.

Following the Indian External Affairs Ministry visit to China, a Pakistani English language daily carried an article on India-China relations. Written by a Pakistani obviously, the article took a wide swipe at India’s alleged anti-China predilections and conspiracies. The article started with India re-opening the Daulat Beg Oldi (DBG) airport, going to intimate India-Israel secret military relations at the behest of the USA to counter China. The Central point, however, was India with growing military power acquired from anti-China countries has already been and continues to, plot with the Dalai Lama to split China.

The article, carried by the daily Pakistan Post of June 13 is not something seen normally in the Pakistani media, print or electronic. The words, phrases, sentiments and allegations in the article are ever so bluntly a repetition of Chinese propaganda articles. The article went so far as to charge that India aided and abetted the Tibetan uprisings in Lhasa in March this year in collusion with the Dalai Lama.

Such an article planted by the China intelligence agencies is not surprising. It is done by many intelligence agencies, but much more subtly. Chinese propaganda, however, are not known to be subtle when launching a broadside attack. This article may be a precursor for more to come, and even more directly.

The manner in which the Chinese have dealt with the Tibet issue and the Tibetans, especially the Dalai Lama in recent months, has been unfortunate. He is considered the spiritual head of Buddhists the world over, and the Chinese assault on him has deeply hurt the sentiments of Buddhists. There is a human dignity even for the worst criminal in the world. By abusing the Dalai Lama, the Chinese authorities have only won opprobrium. And this has changed the character and context of the Tibet issue. As the Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said, the Tibet issue is no longer an internal matter of China.

On the Tibet issue, India has bent over backward to accommodate China. But the Chinese pressure has been relentless, including suggesting in an official media comment that India was finally bowing down to China on the Tibet issue irrespective of the opinion of its people because good relations with China was so important for India.

The tone adopted by the Chinese in their interactions with the Indian delegation was a deliberate display of arrogance bordering on insult, if not insult itself.

It was also made clear that the Dalai Lama’s residence in India was no longer acceptable to China. And the border issue including the Sikkim issue were all linked to the Dalai Lama, in a very important sense. Increased pressure on India.

What the Chinese told the EAM should not have come as a surprise. Most of it was expected, including their position on Sikkim which the Chinese are going to turn into another issue at a time of their own choosing.

The points made by the Chinese Foreign Minister have much wider implications in China’s aggressive policy towards India. They go beyond bilateral issues and relations, imposing China’s superiority. The Chinese media report that India values relations with China much more than the popular mood in the country is not one of appreciation. It is one of superiority, if read carefully and in the context Beijing’s positions including summoning the Indian Ambassador at 2 a.m. in the morning to the Foreign Office.

The tone of the Chinese statements during the dialogue should not be allowed to pass. The Indian policy makers must realize that two can play at the same game. If the Chinese are allowed to get away as has been done in the past, it will be asking for more trouble in all areas including the borders.

The next Special Representative level talks on the borders, which discusses many other issues, can expect overbearing positions from the Chinese side. Unless, of course, the Indian authorities adopt their own legitimate and moral positions. Mr. Yang Jiechi’s demand to stop the Indian media from giving the Dalai Lama space, should be discussed with the contempt it deserves. Giving any consideration to it would encourage the Chinese much since it would seem the Indian government was succumbing to Chinese threats to the extent of interfering in the country’s constitution which protects freedom of speech and the media.

And finally, India should seek foreign policy channel other than China to pursue its deserving role in the regional and world order. Even a blind person can see that at every turn China has been obstructing India’s role be it on the UN Security Council expansion, India-US nuclear deal, India’s full membership in regional and trans-regional groupings, improving India’s relations with it’s neighbours. To use the often used Chinese phrase, Beijing must be made to under stand that India will no longer “stand idly by” if China continues to counter and encircle India with impunity.

Development of relations with China is a reality. The same goes for China where India is concerned. It is high time, however, India came of it self-imposed “denial mode” and “accommodation”, and demonstrate it is not a “soft” or “weak” state.

(The author is an eminent China analyst with many years of experience of study on the developments in China. He can be reached at grouchohart@yahoo.com)