Halifax, Canada: The President of Central Tibetan Administration Dr Lobsang Sangay spoke at the 9th Halifax International Security Forum that concluded today. Dr Sangay was featured as one of the speakers at the panel session titled ‘India-China Relations’.
Dr Sangay affirmed that Tibet remains the core issue in the India-China relations, given its significance as Asia’s water tower and the 3500 km border Tibet shares with India. He made a premonition of destabilisation and tension between the two Asian giants so long as the Tibet issue remains unresolved.
“India and China never shared a border, it always was between India and Tibet. It best serves India’s interest to restore Tibet’s status as a buffer zone between India and China,” said President Dr Sangay.
Commenting on the Dokhlam issue, Dr Sangay’s postulation evinced it as only the beginning of China’s expansionist design and not a one-off standoff.
Speaking on the relevance of Tibet in today’s world, Dr Sangay said that apart from Tibet’s environment on which hinges the global weather conditions, even the cell phones made in China that are cheap and available in the market is made of lithium mined from Tibet’s sacred mountains. Advocating for the stewardship of Tibetan people, Dr Sangay said the Tibetan Plateau needs to be protected and Tibetans must be made the stewards of their own land so that the roof of the world can be protected.
Dr Sangay also dwelled on how China’s overseas influence operations have rubbed off on every country from Denmark to Australia to South Africa.
President Dr Lobsang Sangay with co-panelists for session on ‘India-China Relations’ at the 2017 Halifax Security Forum. From left Ambassador Husain Haqqani, Director and Senior Fellow, South and Central Asia, Hudson Institute, Dr. Alyssa Ayres, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia, Council on Foreign Relations, Dr. Daniel Twining, President, International Republican Institue and Moderator Dr. Carla Robbins, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
The other speakers on the panel on ‘India-China Relations’ were Dr. Alyssa Ayres, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia, Council on Foreign Relations, Ambassador Husain Haqqani, Director and Senior Fellow, South and Central Asia, Hudson Institute, Dr. Daniel Twining, President, International Republican Institute. The session lasting 90 minutes was moderated by Dr. Carla Robbins, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations.
Over 300 participants from 80 countries attended this year’s forum organised by Canada’s Ministry of National Defense led by Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.
This year marks President Dr Sangay’s fourth consecutive participation in the forum which is North America’s leading foreign affairs and defence conference that brings together government officials, media personals and scholars who are at the forefront of decision-making and policy formulation impacting the global political discourse.