Tibet Autonomous Region
- November 27, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Tibet Autonomous Region
Context:
The leadership of the Tibetan community in exile says it is concerned that China might be “pushing” more Tibetans out to the border areas while using the opportunity to settle more mainland Chinese in Tibetan cities
Concept:
India’s Tibet policy
- India makes the 3500km LAC is with the Tibetan Autonomous Region. In 1914, it was Tibetan representatives, along with the Chinese that signed the Simla convention with British India that delineated boundaries.
- China’s accessed Tibet in 1950, it repudiated the convention and the McMahon line that divided the two countries.
- India signed an agreement with China in 1954, agreeing to recognize Tibet as “Tibet region of China”.
- In 1959, following the Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama (spiritual leader of Tibetan people) and many of his followers fled to India.
- Former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Lal Nehru gave him and Tibetan refugee’s shelter, and helped in setting up the Tibetan government in exile.
- The Indian policyis that the Dalai Lama is a spiritual leader, and the Tibetan community in India, with more than a lakh exiles, is not allowed to undertake any political activity.
- In the event of increasing tensions between India and China, there has been a shift in India’s Tibet Policy. This shift in the policy, earmarks the Indian government actively managing with the Dalai Lama in public forums.
- In recent times there is also a rise in the younger and more radical “Rangtsen”(freedom) groups demanding an independent Tibet.
- According to informal estimates, about 75,000 live in India and 10,000 in Nepal. The number of those leaving Tibet has steadily decreased in the past decade, PenpaTsering, the newly elected “Sikyong” of the “Central Tibetan Authority (CTA) based in Dharamshala
Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) or Xizang Autonomous Region,
- The Tibet Autonomous Region is located on the Tibetan Plateau, the highest region on earth. In northern Tibet elevations reach an average of over 4,572 metres (15,000 ft). Mount Everest is located on Tibet’s border with Nepal.
- China’s provincial-level areas of Xinjiang, Qinghai and Sichuan lie to the north, northeast and east, of the Tibet.
- The lake region extends from the Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh, Lake Rakshastal, Yamdrok Lake and Lake Manasarovar near the source of the Indus River, to the sources of the Salween, the Mekong and the Yangtze. The lake region is a wind-swept Alpine grassland. This region is called the Chang Tang (Byang sang) or ‘Northern Plateau’ by the people of Tibet.
- The river region is characterized by fertile mountain valleys and includes the Yarlung Tsangpo River(the upper courses of the Brahmaputra). The YarlungTsangpo Canyon, formed by a horseshoe bend in the river where it flows around NamchaBarwa, is the deepest and possibly longest canyon in the world.
- Among the mountains there are many narrow valleys. The valleys of Lhasa, Xigazê, Gyantse and the Brahmaputra are free from permafrost, covered with good soil and groves of trees.
- The countries to the south and southwest are Myanmar, India, Bhutan, and Nepal. China claims Arunachal Pradesh administered by India as part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. It also claims several areas adjoining the Chumbi Valley that are recognised as Bhutan’s territory.