26 November 2020, NIICE Commentary 6503
Dr. Priyanka Mallick
India and China, the two giants of Asia, are two of the oldest, living civilization of the world. Being neighbours, India and China had established trade and cultural relations since ancient time. The Silk Road had served both economic and cultural ties. It facilitated the spread of Buddhism from India to East Asia along with a trade route between India and China. The mutual relations have faced several turns and twist since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. One of the critical issues which dominated the India-China relations since 1950 is the Tibet.
Strategic Importance of Tibet
Tibet had acted as a buffer state between China and India. Historically, Tibet had been very close to India. It was more convenient to go to Beijing from Lhasa via India. The Anglo-Tibetan agreement of 1904 had granted India military, communication, postal, trading and other rights in Tibet and at the same time recognized the Chinese suzerainty over Tibet.
After the establishment of the communist regime, PRC decided to expand its frontiers. In October 1950, China sent her troops into Tibet and established its military control over Tibet. India, in the beginning, mildly protested the use of force by PLA in dealing with Tibet and hoped that Tibet would be granted genuine autonomy. Soon, India calmed the spat on Tibet with China and signed a new accord with Beijing which regulated trade on the borders. It sanctified Chinese control of Tibet, the withdrawal of Indian troops from it, and the handing over of Indian postal and governmental infrastructure there. In 1954, the two sides also signed the joint statement on the five principles of peaceful coexistence (Panchsheel). The agreement on Tibet referred to the territory as ‘Tibet Region of China’. This agreement aimed at developing good neighbourly relations between the two countries and conduct border trade between India and Tibet.
The direct result of the occupation of Tibet by China was the transformation of the Indo-Tibet border into Sino-Indian border, and the border issue which was nearly non-existent in 1950 unexpectedly became a serious problem that led to border conflict in 1962. As long as India was at loggerhead with China over Tibet, India’s friendship diplomacy towards the PRC yielded little result. With the India shift on Tibet embodied in the 1954 agreement, however, China began to reciprocate India’s expression of friendship.
Geographical Importance of Tibetan Plateau
Tibet is not only strategically important, but from a geographical point of view, its role is very crucial. The Tibetan Plateau is called the “Third Pole” because it has the enormous perennial ice mass on the planet after the Arctic and Antarctica. Tibetan Plateau is Asia’s “Water Tower”, which supplies freshwater far and wide in Asia. Tibet’s vast glaciers, hundreds of lakes, substantial underground springs, and high altitude have endowed it with the world’s most incredible river system.
The rivers flowing out of the Tibetan Plateau include the main rivers of China, Southeast Asia and South Asia: the Yangtze, the Yellow, the Mekong, the Salween, the Irrawaddy, the Arun, the Brahmaputra, the Karnali and the Indus. These river systems support millions of people. In the 21st century, China’s attention has increasingly turned to the exploitation of water resources on the Tibetan plateau, which offers a range of tempting sites for megaprojects.
The two main rivers of North China, Yellow and Yangtze, have already been heavily polluted and their natural hydrology has been seriously compromised. In both the rivers, dam building has reached saturation levels. Therefore, new Chinese megaprojects or plans for building dams, barrages and diversion facilities are now centred in southern and south-eastern Tibet, close to the frontiers of neighbouring countries. Thus, these projects have a direct bearing on the water interests of riparian countries.
Throughout Chinese history, civilization has been closely related to water management projects. “Three Gorge dam” was dreamt and mandated by Sun Yat-Sen to improve navigation, flood control and provide hydropower for the country. However, the construction was started only in 1994. Similarly, Mao Zedong planned for water transfer scheme. “The south has a lot of water. The north little…. It is okay to lend a little water”.
A major project to tackle the water scarcity of northern China is the South-North Water Diversion Project (SNWD). The SNWD in China is the largest of its kind ever undertaken. The project involves drawing water from southern rivers and supplying it to the dry north. The project is designed to create three new waterways to run along the East, Centre and South-West China. The water transfer plans in the third phase includes Western route that involves international rivers, and when fully implemented, they will arm China with considerable leverage over its riparian neighbours. The Brahmaputra River in its course makes the deep Canyon known as the Great Canyon of Yarlung Tsangpo River, near the Great bend. It is the broadest and deepest Canyon in the world, being 504.6 kilometres long and 6,009 meters deep. This region has enormous potential for immense hydropower generation. China has identified a place on the Great Canyon of Yarlung Tsangpo, Motuo, where it plans to build the biggest dam ever conceived in the world to generate 38 gigawatts of power, more than twice the installed capacity of the Three Gorge Dam. So, it can be said that India is set to pay a heavy price on the issues of river waters, in the years ahead for its blunder on Tibet. There had never been a water-related issue between India and Tibet in history. So, Nehru never thought that such kind of problem could emerge in future when India had given a formal acceptance of “Tibet Region of China”. Nehru was still unable to visualize the threat to India’s territorial and water interests from the disappearance of Tibet as a buffer state.
Conclusion
Tibet is still a core issue between India and China. China has deeply escalated its claims on Arunachal Pradesh and began calling it “South Tibet”. China also reacted strongly whenever the Indian Prime Minister visited the Arunachal Pradesh. India’s security is inextricably entangled with the existence and survival of Tibet as a buffer state between both the countries along with the survival and strengthening of Tibetan culture and religion. All border tension, whether in Ladakh or Arunachal Pradesh, is centred to Tibet issue. India has given asylum to several Tibetan refugees.
Tibet is still under the strict political control of China. Tibet is no longer a political buffer, but can still turn into a political bridge between China and India. It can be possible, if, China start a process of political reconciliation in Tibet, renounce claims over Indian territory because of the Tibetan links. This is time to use Himalayan rivers as a source of cooperation and not as a conflict. A new direction of settlement of the Tibet issue is significant for regional stability and improved Sino-Indian relations.
