Beijing’s opposition to naming a mountain peak in India’s Arunachal Pradesh in honour of the 6th Dalai Lama reflects Chinese aversion to Tibetan culture as well as its interference in the internal matters of the sovereign nation of India. Moreover, the Chinese objection can derail the ongoing talks with India on the border row.
A team of mountaineers from India’s National Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (NIMAS) scaled an unnamed and unclimbed 20,942 feet high peak in the Tawang region of Arunachal Pradesh, a far eastern province of India, which borders China. The institute named the peak after the 6th Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso, born in 1682 in the region.
China, however, did not like it. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian called it “illegal, and null and void”. China calls Arunachal Pradesh South Tibet even as India has termed Chinese claims absurd and unfounded. China has been laying claims on Indian territories. It even renamed some of the areas in Arunachal Pradesh.
Despite the provocation, India showed restraint but conveyed a clear message to China that Arunachal Pradesh has been its integral part. ” This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright. Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality,” said India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson last year.
Kalpit Mankikar, a China expert at New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, said the Indian action symbolizes Tibetan resistance to Chinese occupation and the practice of replacing the names of places in Tibet and northeast India with Chinese ones. “China has been renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh with [Chinese] names, and this has led to calls within India for similar actions,” he said.
Naming the high peak after the Dalai Lama ideally must transcend political differences. The Indian gesture was to celebrate the late Dalai Lama’s timeless wisdom and his profound contributions to the local Monpa community.
However, the Chinese found geopolitical stunts more important than the emotions of Tibetans living in China and elsewhere.
Tibetan communities across the world welcomed India’s decision to rename a peak after the Dalai Lama as they said it highlighted his contribution to the Monpa community. Nyenthar, Tibetan language lecturer at the Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Education said the Indian decision honoured the deep historical, religious and cultural roots of the people of Tawang.
A group of Tibetan research students called China “insecure” for opposing the decision. Local people living in Arunachal Pradesh are pleased with the gesture and asked China not to interfere. “Tawang is part of India, and the peak is located well within Indian territory, not in China or, to be more specific, Tibet,” said a local leader named Jigmey Choenyi.
Beijing calls about 90,000 square kilometres area in Arunachal Pradesh its territory even as it occupies 38,000 square kilometres of Indian territory in the Ladakh region. India has time and again refuted the Chinese claims in Arunachal Pradesh. “Repeating baseless arguments in this regard does not lend such claims any validity. Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India,” said India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson. India has chosen not to make any hasty response to Chinese opposition to naming the peak after the Dalai Lama. The probable reason is the sensitivity and delicateness of the ongoing negotiations over disengaging troops from the border. However, Chinese action can disrupt the military negotiations as well as aggravate anger among Tibetans who believed China was trying to destroy their culture.