Treat Tibet as 'core issue', Tibetan govt-in-exile president to India

NEW DELHI: India should treat Tibet as a "core issue", Tibetan government-in-exile's President Lobsang Sangay said today, expressing concern over Beijing's growing influence in India's immediate neighbourhood.

The chief of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said Tibet is a "litmus test" and holds the "key" to Beijing in many ways and also is a potential catalyst to bring about changes inside China.

Sangay said Tibetans should have a say on the usage of water of rivers located in the Tibetan plateau, touching upon reports of highly polluted water from Brahmaputra's tributary Siang flowing into India.


"Restoring the guardianship of the Tibetan plateau to the Tibetan people is necessary," he said, speaking at the M L Sondhi Memorial Lecture here.

"India should also declare Tibet as one of the core issues like China. It should make it part of the formal dialogue agenda," he said.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu had recently drawn the attention of the Centre on the river contamination which he said might have been caused due to activities on the Chinese side.

The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) aims to "rehabilitate Tibetan refugees and restore freedom and happiness in Tibet".

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, who also spoke at the event, said India lacks a strategic culture.

"Indian foreign policy is largely driven by romantic ideas. It should end. We should have a pragmatic policy," Madhav said, underlining that China practices the "art of deception".

Sondhi was an Indian academic, diplomat, parliamentarian and a lifelong supporter of the Tibet issue.