Why PLA’s Next Intrusion could be in Arunachal Pradesh?
- rkbhonsle
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Irked by recent contentions over succession of HH The Dalai Lama and references to Arunchal Pradesh and Tibet a relevant Chinese strategic messaging through action could be anticipated.
Differences over succession of His Holiness The Dalai Lama are expected to be a potential friction point in India China relations even though India officially declared that the government does not speak or take any position on matters of faith and religion.
This comes about after on July 2, HH Dalai Lama said that the institution of Dalai Lama will continue even after his death and no one else has the authority to decide on the matter.
Earlier on May 21, 2025, HH had said, “The process by which a future Dalai Lama is to be recognized has been clearly established in the 24 September 2011 statement which states that responsibility for doing so will rest exclusively with members of the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They should consult the various heads of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and the reliable oath-bound Dharma Protectors who are linked inseparably to the lineage of the Dalai Lamas. They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition. I hereby reiterate that the Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognize the future reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter”.
Reacting to His Holiness statement on July 2, Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong shared that the reincarnation process has continued for the last 700 years. “The 14th Dalai Lama is part of this long-standing historical tradition and religious succession, not otherwise. The reincarnation of Dalai Lamas neither began from him nor will end due to him. He has no authority to decide whether the reincarnation system shall continue or be abolished,” he added.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs maintained a stoic distance from the politics of succession. The Ministry’s official Spokesperson Shri Randhir Jaiswal in response to media queries regarding recent statement by HH the Dalai Lama said, “ We have seen reports relating to the statement made by His Holiness the Dalai Lama about the continuation of the Dalai Lama institution. Government of India does not take any position or speak on matters concerning beliefs and practices of faith and religion. Government has always upheld freedom of religion for all in India and will continue to do so”.
Despite the government approach, Indian Union ministers Rijiju and Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Sikkim minister Sonam Lama attended the birthday celebrations of HH Dalai Lama in Dharamshala possibly with a view to demonstrate India’s support to the large Tibetan diaspora in the country and abroad. This enabled maintaining a degree of ambivalence on a sensitive issue with China.
Taking the developments forward, interestingly Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu said during an interview with PTI Videos that the state does not share a border with China but Tibet.
Geographically speaking 1,200 km international border in Arunachal Pradesh is with Tibet or Tibetan Autonomous Region of China now known as Xizang.
Responding to the interviewers question on sharing a border with China, Khandu intervened and said, “Let me correct you here. We share a border with Tibet and not China.” “Officially, Tibet is under China now. That can’t be ruled out. But originally, we share a border with Tibet. And in Arunachal Pradesh, we share three international boundaries — with Bhutan, approximately 150 km, with Tibet, around 1,200 km, which is one of the longest in the country, and on the eastern side, with Myanmar, around 550 km,” he said.
Khandu said historical facts back the fact it was an Indo-Tibet border and referred to the Shimla Convention of 1914 in which representatives of British India, China and Tibet participated.
By emphasizing the Indo-Tibet border, India subtly challenges China’s claim over Arunachal as “South Tibet.” It reinforces the idea that Tibet was once a distinct entity, not inherently Chinese territory. This could also be seen as a strategic narrative used by India to assert sovereignty.
CM Prema Khandu also made an intervention on the successor of HH Dalai Lama stating that the selection will only be after the current one passes away. "In fact, as I said, His Holiness' health is very good. And this time too -- on the occasion of his 90th birthday celebration -- His Holiness said that he will live to be around 130 years old. So we all pray and I am very hopeful that he will live to be 130," Khandu told PTI Videos.
Khandu also claimed that the next spiritual leader will emerge from a free society, obliquely indicating it will not be from China a Communist authoritarian State. “I don’t know why China is objecting to it. They must have their own policy. There is no Dalai Lama institution in China. The Dalai Lama institution is recognised mainly in the Himalayan belt and by the Tibetan Buddhists. China has no role in it,” he said.
Of significance is the Towang Monastery in Arunachal Pradesh which has a long association with the institution of the Dalai Lama. The large monastery in Towang was established by the 5th Dalai Lama and the 6th was born there.
The current the 14th Dalai Lama passed through Towang on his way from Tibet to India in 1950. China has been referring to Towang as, “Southern Tibet,” though it lays claims to the whole of the Indian state.
In messaging, China has been renaming a series of geographic landmarks in Arunachal Pradesh giving names in Mandarin as part of the claims legacy.
With a challenge to territorial annexation of Tibet subtly by Arunachal Chief Minister even though India follows the One China Policy, China is not likely to remain complacent.
Active symbolism through an attempted intrusion could be likely. In the past, it is reported that At 3 am on December 9, 2022, about 300 Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops attempted to seize a strategic location Yangtse in Eastern Tawang. This came just after the Doklam clash in Eastern Ladakh in 2020.
Also Read Yangtse On the Borders the Tactical is the Strategic
With controversies arising over HH Dalai Lama succession and reference made to Arunachal Pradesh, Chinese attempt for another foray in Tawang cannot be ruled out in the near future.
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