Comment from I M Sharma, Hyderabad

What the editor means by saying "India had no border problems with Tibet as along as it was Tibet"? The British imperialists tried to subjugate Tibet also but were not successful; however, they were successful in establishing a mission in Lhasa taking advantage of the weakness of the 'suzerain' China in those days and controlled Tibet's affairs. India only stepped into those imperialist shoes as far as Tibet was concerned. The moment China became liberated and emerged into a strong unified State (1949) problems naturally developed. They would no longer tolerate the expansionist or imperialist designs of the British sought to be continued by India. Strangely, Indian Government, with all its ambitions, and colonial legacies, has also recognized Tibet as a part of China i.e. accepted the sovereignty of China over Tibet, though it has also aided the Tibetan rebels and gave and still gives sanctuary to them. So, Tibet could not have any problems with India since, pre-1947, there was no India proper or Tibet proper (in terms of sovereign existence). Earlier to that there were always tensions - Ladakh from Tibet being occupied by Raja Gulab Singh, still earlier to that Aurangzeb's invasions against Tibet and subjugation of Ladakh, etc. In NEFA Tibet to date has claims over Tawang Monastery and if Tibet becomes independent, certainly it will have a dispute with India as to the status of Arunachal Pradesh. I sent queries to the exile government of Tibet (in Dharma Shala, HP) online about their position on the Sino-Indian border dispute but they did not reply since obviously they are now under the tutelage of Indian Govt. But once Tibet becomes independent or autonomous (even under China), everything will change. They will also sing the same songs of the Chinese Govt. on the border dispute. Please note that the Taiwan Chinese govt. fully supported and to date supports the official Beijing Chinese govt.'s line on the border dispute. Also now U.K. recognizes not just the Chinese suzerainty over Tibet; it has gone quite farther and recognizes the 'sovereignty' of China over Tibet.

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