What happened to Tibet could also happen to India, warns Tibetan PMexile

Lobsang Sangay, President of the Tibetan government-in exile, has warned that Ladakh is the latest addition to China’s expansionist policy and that “what happened to Tibet, could also happen to India”.

Lately, China’s People’s Liberation Army has made alarming advances towards the Line of Actual Control (LAC) which extends from Ladakh in the north to as far as Arunachal Pradesh in the north-east.

Since the beginning of May, the Chinese army has been attempting to encroach into Indian Territory which has also led to multiple face-offs between troops from both sides.

Looking back at the shared history between China, India and Tibet, Sangay said: “If we look at history, India never shared a border with China, but it has always shared a border with Tibet. During that period, Indo-Tibetan border was never an issue”.

In fact, he said, Tibet acted as a buffer zone between India and China, “which is now no longer the case”.

According to Sangay, China as traditionally maintained that Tibet is the palm, and Bhutan, Nepal, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Sikkim are its five fingers. “Once they took over Tibet, they had an upper hand in terms of imposing their expansionist policy. Ladakh is the latest addition to China’s expansionist policy. Tibetans were its first-hand victim and we have been warning the world ever since,” he said.

As per reports, the Chinese army wanted to do a deeper incursion into the Indian Territory but timely commissioning of India troops thwarted their attempt. China has also been found trying to bring in more than 5,000 troops since the first week of May into the Eastern Ladakh sector.

In the case of increased Chinese assault on India, Sangay said that Tibet stands with India on ‘ahimsa’ (non-violence).

“The CTA and voice of the Tibetan people have been at the forefront when it came to confronting China. We seek China to follow international norms, basic human rights and non-violence. We have been alerting all the neighbouring countries, including India that what happened to Tibet could happen to you,” he said.