CTA Neglects Tibetans in Tibet

Samdhong Rinpoche’s recent visit to China is brought up again in this article. At the moment, it is not clear yet as to what transpired during Samdhong Rinpoche’s 4-day visit to China and how the development may impact the progress of Tibetan cause or India-China relations. The confusion related to this visit were increased a notch recently after Samdhong Rinpoche denied that this visit even occurred. It is very likely that the public may speculate further about Samdhong Rinpoche’s real intention behind the visit and why he was hiding it, and the speculation could run wild and impose a new risk to the Tibetan cause and India China relations. Therefore, it is best for Samdhong Rinpoche to clarify this matter once and for all.

Tibet developments may put pressure on India
Samdong Rimpoche’s visit to China materialised against the backdrop of strained India-China relations consequent to the face-off between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam, says former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
There have been important developments relating to Tibet since the Chinese Communist Party congress ended in Beijing on October 25, 2017 and the two months thereafter.
All of them have implications for India and some could potentially put India under sustained pressure.
The first was the indication that the Chinese Communist Party’s central committee’s united front work department, which is responsible for supervising non-Communist parties and ethnic minorities including the Tibet and Xinjiang Autonomous Regions, was preparing to take fresh initiatives.
This was the dramatic ‘leak’ that Samdong Rimpoche – a former two-term Kalon Tripa (‘prime minister’) of the Tibetan administration-in-exile and among the Dalai Lama’s most trusted advisers — had quietly travelled to China in late November 2017.
Samdong Rimpoche, who was nominated a month earlier as the Dalai Lama’s envoy for talks with the Chinese authorities, would certainly have met senior Communist party leaders during his four-day stay in Kunming, capital of China’s Yunnan province.
There is speculation that Rimpoche could have met You Quan, a former party secretary of Fujian province whom Chinese President Xi Jinping appointed director of the united front work department in November or Zhang Yijiong, executive vice minister of the UFWD.
If Rimpoche met Chinese leaders, this would be the first acknowledged contact between an envoy of the Dalai Lama and Chinese Communist officials since negotiations between the two sides were suspended in 2010.
China’s official media has, however, not yet mentioned a visit by a senior leader to Kunming during this period.
Dr Lobsang Sangay, the Sikyong (head) of the Central Tibetan Administration, obliquely confirmed that Professor Rimpoche had visited China. He was replying to a question posed by former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal on the sidelines of the M L Sondhi memorial lecture in New Delhi on December 14, when he cautioned ‘Don’t read too much into it. At most it’s a private visit and it’s too early to say anything.’
It is pertinent that Lobsang Sangay — who is the other envoy nominated by the Dalai Lama for talks with the Chinese — did not accompany Samdong Rimpoche probably because China continues to adhere to its policy of not recognising the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala. No relaxation has been noticed in China’s policies towards Tibetans or Tibet so far.
Samdong Rimpoche’s visit also materialised against the backdrop of strained India-China relations consequent to the face-off between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam and threats made at the time by China through its official media.
It comes too in the wake of an international conference convened by the Tibetan administration-in-exile in October 2017 to finalise a long-term action plan, including revival of Tibetan Buddhism in the Indo-Himalayan border belt.
At the same time a securitisation of Tibet is taking place. Following up on Xi Jinping’s work report to the party congress — which for the first time devoted an entire section to poverty alleviation — the Tibet Autonomous Region has launched a campaign to tackle poverty and simultaneously enhance security.
It has decided to build ‘well-off border villages’ along Tibet’s ‘borders with India, Nepal, Bhutan and other neighbouring countries to ensure the security of the borders and maintain stability’ in the region.
The State-owned Global Times newspaper on December 25, 2017 asserted that ‘confronting separatism remains a challenge for the region. Raising living standards for local residents is a fundamental way to guard against activity sabotaging China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity’.
‘Tibet’s rural poverty alleviation,’ the newspaper added, will help maintain stability in the border areas’.
Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns in the TAR are being co-opted to sensitise people and ensure that Buddhism serves socialism.
Additionally, the decision to bring the people’s armed police force (PAPF) directly under the central military commission with effect from January 1, 2018 puts Tibet under the direct control of the people’s liberation army (PLA).
Xi Jinping had earlier appointed PLA officers loyal to him as the commander and political commissar of the PAPF.
Since the PAPF is deployed in strength in Tibet’s main towns, rural countryside and border areas, the PLA officers — who are now being re-inducted into the party standing committees at the provincial and county levels — will have an enhanced role.
In addition to deploying PAPF troops when civilian authorities request assistance, the PLA officers will have a greater role in military-civil coordination and be directly involved in building the ‘well-off border villages’.
Each of these villages is to be connected by road, thereby facilitating military movement along the border with India.
Finally, the TAR leadership is being encouraged to push the Belt and Road Initiative and Bangladesh China India Myanmar Corridor with Tibet’s neighbours.
To promote the BRI and BCIM, China has announced it will expand TAR’s road network from 82,000 kms to 89,000 kms by 2020.
Chinese officials have earlier pointed out that there are 70 road links between China and Nepal and there have been suggestions of a new China-Nepal-India Corridor.
The aim will be to build pressure on India by creating public opinion, including by co-opting Tibetans, to endorse the BRI and China’s plans of connectivity.
Jayadeva Ranade, a former Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, is presently President, Centre for China Analysis and Strategy.
http://m.rediff.com/news/column/tibet-developments-may-put-pressure-on-india/20180107.htm

China has been liberal towards Buddhist practitioners including those who are practicing Shugden deity. In fact, there are 250 million Buddhists in China currently, almost three times more than communist party members. On the contrary, the Tibetan leadership in exile continues to discriminate against Shugden practitioners and politicizes the Shugden controversy to their benefit instead of promoting harmony among Buddhist practitioners. How ironic that the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) continuously criticizes China for their human rights issue, and yet the CTA fails to respect even the most basic human rights of other people, freedom of religion.

Three times as many Buddhists as Communists in China: Dalai Lama’s Tibet wish may require rapprochement with former adversaries
01/16/2018 07:27 am ET
By: Martin Desai, Contributor
Journalist and financial investigator
Whilst China technically remains a communist country, it has over the last two or three decades relaxed draconian Mao-era rules, for example by opening the door to private sector capitalism and by allowing individuals to practice a religion of their choice, so long as it is not to be perceived as a potential threat to the stability of the state or of the Communist Party.
There are now almost three times as many Buddhists in China as there are Party members. An official communiqué released in July this year estimated the membership of the Communist Party of China at just under 90 million. Meanwhile, the State Bureau of Religious Affairs estimates there are some 250 million Buddhists in China, more or less evenly split between Tibetan Buddhism and Han Buddhism, and 200,000 registered Buddhist monks.
Chinese authorities monitor religious adherence closely, and are extremely sensitive to any challenge, real or imagined, that certain religions may represent. While the Chinese regime’s approach to Buddhism has been liberal – for example, no bans have been issued and open religious expression is permitted – it clearly takes the religion’s influence seriously, given its importance in Chinese society.
Above all the regime fears religious divisions or unrest, as evidenced by the swift outlawing of the Falun Gong movement and imprisonment of its leaders after a series of demonstrations by Falun Gong members prompted fears that the group’s swelling support could one day rival the Party. The regime is also acutely sensitive to the possibility of what it sees as external interference – especially on the delicate subject of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.
A particularly divisive issue for the Buddhist community, both within Tibet and abroad is the devotion to the Dorje Shugden deity, a 400-year old practice that began in the 17th century and has become a major practice in Tibetan Buddhism. Critics of Shugden devotion say worship of the deity promotes divisions among the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, all of which share the same fundamental philosophy, and whose differences lie in their interpretation of the extensive collection of Buddhist scriptures and the emphasis they place on various aspects of Buddhist philosophy.
At the origin of the controversy lie a number of ambiguous declarations from the current (14th) Dalai Lama. On the one hand, he has appealed for non-sectarian cooperation among all branches of Tibet’s religions. However, he has also effectively excluded Shugden practitioners from such cooperation despite once regarding Dorje Shugden as an enlightened being and authoring one of the most popular liturgies to this deity. Some Shugden devotees have claimed that these ambiguous declarations amount to a de facto ban on their practice and this exclusion is tantamount to being exiled in their own communities. The Shugden de facto exclusion has already existed for two decades since it was initiated by the current Dalai Lama and has slowly stirred disunity in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China and among the exiled Tibetan communities.
In 2014 the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet, which is chaired by the actor Richard Gere, said it had obtained a ‘directive’ from the Communist Party Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in China in February 2014 whose title translates as, “Some opinions on dealing correctly with the ‘Gyalchen Shugden’ issue”[1].
The International Campaign for Tibet’s evaluation of the directive accuses China of seeking to gain a political advantage from the controversy. Entitled “China’s new directive on (the) controversial Shugden spirit in Tibet in (a) further bid to discredit Dalai Lama”[2], even the title of the critique dispels any expectation of objectivity.
While the Chinese position is that the authorities are aiming to guarantee the right of all Tibetans to choose who and how they worship, the directive issued by the Communist Party Committee of TAR is couched in rather divisive language. It calls the Shugden controversy “an important front in our struggle with the Dalai clique” and “a deceitful ploy by the 14th Dalai’s clique to split the country…”
The Chinese directive was made in response to the de facto religious ban implemented by the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Government in Exile, and to their suspected destabilizing activities inside the TAR. The directive proposes educational and law enforcement measures to be implemented inside the TAR to mitigate the risk of division and unrest that the controversy may cause. Tashi Tadchen, a representative of the European Dorje Shugden Society which was set up to create awareness of the supposed ban, says that following the exiled Tibetan leadership’s edict against the Shugden practice, there have been frequent clashes which at times have led to loss of lives between those who feel obliged to follow the Dalai Lama’s decree and adherents of the Shugden practice.
The directive mirrors Chinese fear of discord within Tibetan Buddhism and Buddhism in general. What it does not do, despite the International Campaign for Tibet’s claims, is take a specific position on Shugden devotion outside the TAR. In spite of the content of the directive, the Exiled Tibetan Government and related NGOs around the World have repeatedly used it as evidence to attest that Shugden practitioners are “spies of the Chinese Communist Party.”
A late 2015 report from the news agency Reuters looking into the Shugden controversy relied heavily on the Communist Party Committee of TAR directive, and especially the International Campaign for Tibet’s interpretation of it, as solid evidence that China is financing various Shugden groups in the West, in particular the International Shugden Community (ISC) which has seen strong support from individual members of the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT) and Tibetans living in the West. The NKT has meditation centres around the world and has been vocal in its public opposition to the Dalai Lama’s position.
Even so, no concrete evidence has ever been supplied. However, whilst the intended objective is unclear, the Dalai Lama’s Shugden exclusion has created unrest amongst Tibetans inside the TAR. This is precisely what China fears. China sustains a “One China” policy to maintain stability and prosperity of the state. Any divisive conflict in the TAR such as the Shugden split, does not augur well for it’s objectives. This is not an objective the exile Tibetan Government necessarily shares and its ability to influence affairs in the TAR is one of it key bargaining chips.
What we have, in effect, is both sides calling for unity while at the same time continuing to bicker. The Communist Party of TAR has certainly sought to politicise the rift, as the Dalai Lama and his supporters also appear to have done. The Dalai Lama’s comments have served to alienate Shugden devotees from other Tibetan Buddhists, and are somewhat jarring when considered alongside his calls for unity in the Tibetan diaspora. Shugden adherents have insisted that if indeed the exiled Tibetan leadership believes that the Communist Party of China is leveraging this issue, then a simple pronouncement by the Dalai Lama declaring an end to the de facto ban would have the effect of rendering it harmless.
Could the time now be ripe to call for closure of hostilities? The Dalai Lama has recently expressed a desire to return to his Tibetan homeland, a wish that would have no chance of fulfilment without a significant thawing of China’s attitude towards Tibet’s spiritual leader.
Harmony among Tibetan Buddhists is in the interests of both sides. Moreover, having said in November 2017 that “Tibetans want to stay with China” and that he would return to Tibet at once, if China agrees, the Dalai Lama has flagged a willingness to try and overcome the longstanding political impasse. In addition, a high ranking emissary of the Dalai Lama, Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche – former Prime Minister of the Tibetan exile Government – was nominated in the autumn as the Dalai Lama’s envoy for talks with the Chinese authorities and is believed to have held secret meetings with senior Communist party leaders.
Given that one of His Holiness’ early reasons for his criticism of Shugden worship – that it “harms the life of the Dalai Lama” – no longer seems justified given his longevity and continuing fair health, a rapprochement with Shugden acolytes may be a good starting point if his desired return to Tibet is to be anything more than a pipe dream.
[1] http://www.savetibet.org/the-official-line-on-shugden-translation/
[2] http://www.savetibet.org/chinas-new-directive-on-controversial-shugden-spirit-in-tibet-in-bid-to-further-discredit-dalai-lama/
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/three-times-as-many-buddhists-as-communists-in-china_us_5a5dedb8e4b003efadb6b0d1

In a letter by the Dalai Lama’s translator, Thupten Jinpa, he had said that The Dalai Lama Trust was “slowly getting caught in unnecessary distractions”. Here is an excerpt from the letter:

“For someone who have [sic] had the honor and good fortune to serve His Holiness for over three decades, it had been painful to see how His Holiness’ name and legacy was slowly getting caught in unnecessary distractions (Albany-based NXIVM) and discordant messages (of rich and celebrity orientation). Especially, for the Trust, which is effectively His Holiness’ principal charitable foundation for the outside world, the last two years’ record has been, to put it mildly, quite embarrassing. The Trust has alienated most of its inter-organizational relationships, almost destroyed its infrastructure of the Tibetan graduate scholarship program with a majority of the independent reviewers resigning, and failed to support those international organizations that were actively inspired by His Holiness’ vision for the world and were undertaking high profile initiatives furthering His Holiness’ vision. Most sadly, the Trust has unfortunately acquired a reputation of being authoritarian, confrontational, petty, and uncaring, characteristics so far removed from His Holiness’ personal ethics. In particular, for those organizations and individuals who had been the recipients of grants from the Trust, frankly, the behavior of the Trust can be best characterized as that of bullying. If ever, some of the email communications from the Trust during this period were to come to light within the public domain, it would be a source of embarrassment for everyone connected with the Trust.”

The Dalai Lama’s office had also called for investigations and the eventual of any wrong doings by the organisation.

http://www.tibetanjournal.com/index.php/2018/01/30/daily-mails-article-dalai-lama-one-short-attempt-sensationalism/

Tibet Autonomous Region Public Security Department issued a report on organized crime, that contains information about activities that violate the existing law and regulations. The CPC Central Committee and State Council will act to control these criminal activities to ensure social harmony and stability, and that the people live and work in peace and happiness. CPC called the ‘Middle Way’ as a narrow nationalistic idea and is trying to control any activities related to supporting the Dalai Lama.

Notice of the Tibet Autonomous Region Public Security Department on Reporting Leads on Crimes and violations by Underworld forces
Tibet Daily | 2018/02/10 | 19:18
Underworld forces are a malignant cancer of healthy economic and social development, they are chronic disease that is loathed by the people, and must be resolutely combated in accordance with law. Based on the spirit of the “Notice on Carrying out a Special Crackdown on Clearing Away Organized Crime and Eliminating Vice” issued to the entire nation January 11, 2018 by the CPC Central Committee and State Council, so as thoroughly advance the special crackdown on clearing away organized crime and eliminating vice, to ensure that the people live and work in peace and happiness, to ensure social harmony and stability, and to bring about long-term national stability, the broad masses of the people are asked to enthusiastically report leads on cases of violations or crimes by underworld forces. Notice on matters related to reporting is hereby given as follows;
I. Content of Reports
(1) Underworld forces that threaten political security, especially to regime security and institutional security, as well as those penetrating into the political sphere.
(2) Underworld forces interconnected with the Dalai clique, accepting remote control or command, or participating in separatist and disruptive activities.
(3) Underworld forces with temples as patrons; using religion to control, to confuse, to incite, or coerce the masses to resist the Party and government; or interfering in basic-level administrative, judicial, educational or other affairs.
(4) Underworld forces with close relations and interconnections to all kinds of illegal organization, instilling the masses with reactionary idea and narrow nationalistic ideas such as the ‘Middle Way’ and ‘protecting the “mother tongue”.
(5) Underworld forces holding themselves out as so-called ‘spokespersons’ for the masses, under banners such as economics, the people’s livelihood, environmental protection, folk customs and culture, that are in fact the ‘spokespersons’ of the Dalai clique and hostile foreign [non-mainland] forces.
(6) Underworld forces illegally soliciting donations, fund-raising, giving out fines, taking compulsory collection from the people, or seizing opportunities for unjust enrichment, and providing funds to the Dalai clique.
(7) Underworld forces such as black village officials with a grip on basic-level political power, monopolies on local economic resources, and misappropriating collective property.
(8) Underworld forces using of illegal means such as fraud, bribery, threats, and violence, to manipulate, disrupt, or undermine basic-level general elections.
(9) Underworld forces such as ‘village tyrants, that exploit religion or family forces to cross the countryside, play the tyrants, or bully and suppress the common people.
(10) Underworld forces that exploit religion or family forces to illegally meddle and intervene in conflicts and dispute among the people such as over boundaries, pastures, caterpillar fungus, and debts, to act as ‘underground law enforcement teams’ meddling and intervening in the basic-level administration and judiciary.
(11) Underworld forces stirring up trouble in land acquisition, leases, demolitions, engineering projects, and the like, so as to obtain unlawful benefits.
(12) Underworld forces such as all types of ‘Sand Boss’, ‘Car Boss’ , or ‘Road Boss’ that interfere with engineering and construction in industries or fields such as architectural engineering, transport, and mining, by strong arm projects, maliciously bid, illegally occupy land, excessively mine, seize resources, monopolize or compel sales, block roads to take tolls, or compelling hire of equipment and personnel.
(13) Underworld forces such as ‘Market Bosses”, “Industry Bosses”, “Produce Bosses”, and “Meat Bosses” that dominate markets, force sales, or accept protection money, in venues such as commercial trade markets, wholesale markets, bus stations, train stations, airports, and tourist destinations.
(14) Underworld forces manipulating or operating illegal and criminal activities such as ‘porn, gambling, and drugs’.
(15) Underworld forces using any kind of method of high interest lending such as “routine loans” or “campus loans’ or using violence to collect debts.
(16) Underworld forces meddling in civil disputes, serving as ‘underground law enforcement teams’.
(17) Underworld forces organizing the employment of online ‘paid trolls [or commenters]‘ to threaten, intimidate, berate, defame, make trouble.
(18) Underworld forces through connect online through means such as establishing Wechat groups, online forums, or other means, and that carry out illegal or criminal activities offline.
(19) Underworld forces that engage in unlawful or criminal activities such as illegal fundraising and operations, grabbing and holding economic interests, seriously harming the order fair competition and the environment of economic development.
(20) Personnel of State organs exploiting their position to facilitate, harbor,or abet, crimes by underworld forces, serving as their ‘protective umbrella’
(21) Forced trading, extortion and blackmail, provocation [picking quarels], gathering crowds to fight, unlawful detention, intentional destruction of property, organizing prostitution, forcing prostitution, setting up casinos, and other types of crime involving vice.
(22) Other leads as to crimes involving organized crime and vice.
II. Channels for reporting
(1) Field Reports: Tibet Public Security Bureau Criminal Investigation Team. Organized Crime Investigation Branch, No. 35 Lin Ju Road, Lhasa Chengguan District, Tibet Autonomous Region.
Reports may also be made directly to municipal or regional public security bureaus, of criminal forensics squads.
(2) Telephone Reports: Call the Tibet Autonomous Region Public Security Organ Public Reporting Number: 0891-12389. Note: Select the relevant public security organ for reporting based on the telephone voice prompts.
Clearing away organized crime and eliminating vice is a people’s war, and must rely on the public’s active participation. The masses’ are welcome to actively report and uncover leads on violations and crimes involving underworld forces, and to resolutely struggle against underworld forces’ illegal conduct. The public security organs are to lawfully protect the personal information and security of groups that provide leads. The legal responsibility of reporters will be pursued in accordance with law where reporting is malicious or framing others. Where the subjects of reports carry out revenge, they are to be given severe and heavy punishments in accordance with law.
Public Security Department for the Tibet Autonomous Region
2018/2/7
http://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1993471

By hosting the Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi when India-Pakistan ties are at an all-time low, Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli is telling the world that he is not afraid of India, especially after landmark trade and transit agreements were signed with China. This seems to go well with the general sentiments of the Nepali people, as Oli’s pro-China stance is wildly popular among his core constituencies.

As mentioned in the article, New Delhi must learn to accept China’s presence in the region and to work with it. As China works on building trilateral cooperation with Nepal and India, the Tibetans will have no standing. Recently, the report that the Indian government had asked senior leaders and officials not to attend events that would mark the Tibetans’ 60 years in exile, as well as the cancellation of 2 events in Delhi, are clear signs that everyone is trying to please China. The Tibetans have no more sympathizers who will continue to support them as it risks jeopardising relations with China.

Is This the End of India’s Influence Over Nepal?
As India loses its clout, the Nepali prime minister asserts his country’s independent identity.
By Biswas Baral | March 14, 2018
KATHMANDU — There is now little doubt that India has lost strategic space to China in Nepal. Some reckon the era of “special relations” between India and Nepal is nearly over as China makes steady inroads. There has been a truly breathtaking rise in Chinese influence and a corresponding fall in Indian sway in this country of nearly 30 million. The main catalyst for the sea change? The 2015-16 India-inspired blockade of the India-Nepal border, imposed, in part, owing to India’s displeasure over the new constitution Nepal had just promulgated.
As if to rub salt into India’s wounds Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli last week hosted Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who in the process became the first foreign head of government to visit Nepal after Oli assumed office for the second time on February 15. In the words of one geopolitical commentator, Abbasi’s visit was ill-timed. With India-Pakistan ties at an all-time low, asks this commentator, “What other purpose will it [the Pakistan prime minister’s Nepal visit] serve save for antagonizing India?”
But that is not how most Nepalis see it. Oli knows that the more he tries to assert Nepal’s independent identity by distancing himself from India, the greater his popularity will be. Following the 2015-16 blockade. which brought great hardship to common people, the public pressure for closer ties with China has been steadily building, along with the demand that Nepal diversify its relations away from India, heretofore its predominant business partner. This is where Pakistan enters the picture.
By hosting his Pakistani counterpart, Oli — who crested the popularity wave as a valiant blockade-time prime minister — wanted to give a clear message that he doesn’t care what the Indians think of him. After all, his China tilt is wildly popular among his core constituencies. Moreover, the common perception is that Nepal is these days not as reliant on India as it has historically been, especially after the landmark trade and transit agreements signed with China in the wake of the blockade.
Too Little Too Late
It is true that Oli has also sought to mend his frayed ties with New Delhi following his election as prime minister. Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj visited Kathmandu on February 1 after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi got a clear signal from Oli that he was ready to forget past bitterness and start anew. Earlier, when Modi called Oli to congratulate him on his re-election and invited him to visit India, Oli not only accepted the invite; he replied that he was as keen to welcome Modi to Janakpur and Muktinath, the two holy sites in Nepal Modi has long wanted to visit. The inclusion of Madhesi parties in the Oli government is expected to further ease bilateral ties. Concerns over Madhesi representation were at the core of India’s concerns over the 2015 Nepali Constitution.
There has, moreover, been progress in negotiations on the revision of old Nepal-India treaties that many Nepalis consider unequal. According to recent news reports, India is now ready to discuss regulating the open border, and even considering allowing Nepal to import arms from third countries. India had otherwise treated these issues as non-negotiable. These negotiations may again come to a naught. Nonetheless, Nepali interlocutors in these dialogues sense a definite shift in India’s stand.
But current efforts to revive India-Nepal relations may be a case of too little, too late. Oli knows that for his political longevity he cannot afford an openly hostile India. But at this late stage in his political career, those close to him say, all he cares about is leaving behind a strong legacy as a statesman. With his health failing, Oli knows time is not on his side.
He seems determined to be remembered as the Nepali leader who dared to dream of a future for Nepal independently of India. But not just that. Above all, he wants to be remembered as someone who took concrete steps to turn that old Nepali dream intoa reality. This is why even before assuming office after winning recent elections, he had vowed to expedite connectivity projects with China. To show he is serious he has newly empowered the Prime Minster’s Office to personally oversee their progress.
SAARC Attack
There are other ways Oli can help China’s cause. During Abbasi’s Nepal visit, the two prime ministers agreed on reviving the moribund South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). India has in recent times made a concerted effort to isolate Pakistan, which is why the SAARC summit planned for 2016 in Islamabad had to be postponed indefinably. Abbasi came to Kathmandu to ask for Oli’s support for a prompt holding of the summit — and on Pakistani soil. Abbasi also in a roundabout way suggested that Nepal could mediate talks between India and Pakistan.
India will not be pleased. The last time Nepal and Pakistan were seriously talking was on the eve of the 2014 SAARC summit in Kathmandu. Back then, the two countries had agreed to make China a full SAARC member, which had earned them the great ire of India. India has traditionally not taken kindly to any suggestion for third-party mediation on Kashmir, for example, or for China to play a greater role in SAARC.
India nonetheless may have no option but to accept the writing on the wall. Rather than browbeat its neighbors into following its diktat, as it tried to do with the blockade — or so most Nepalis felt — New Delhi must learn to accept China’s presence in the region and to work with it. China has always supported the idea of trilateral cooperation with Nepal and India, for example with a connecting rail link via Nepal. But India has resisted the suggestion tooth and nail.
This is not to imply that closer relations with China are unquestionably in Nepal’s interest. The political systems of the two countries are polar opposites. There is also little people-to-people engagement, even though cross-border tourism and business exchanges are growing apace. Geography too makes India Nepal’s natural development partner. It would thus be unwise to write the obituary of Indian primacy in Nepal, as some have done of late.
But the Modi government would do well to learn from its mistakes. These days in Nepal, there is no shortage of advice for India on how it can mend its errant ways, or forever lose even its reduced clout. The consensus is that only through open and unconditional engagement with small countries in the region like Nepal and Bhutan can India have a peaceful neighborhood that is conducive to its continued economic rise.
Biswas Baral is the editor of The Annapurna Express, published from Kathmandu. Follow him on Twitter: @biswasktm
https://thediplomat.com/2018/03/is-this-the-end-of-nepals-special-relationship-with-india/

Apart from two big Tibetan events planned in Delhi being scrapped, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) can add another disgrace to the list, this time thanks to its own people, the Tibetans.

On Saturday 17th March, a large number of international protestors gathered near the Tibetan parliament, seeking the impeachment of Tibetan President Sangay, saying his actions are akin to those of a dictator. The protestors are from India, Nepal, Europe, and the US and the protest will go on until the session ends on March 24. Lobsang Sangay definitely made a mark in Tibetan history as he is the first President that Tibetans protested to impeach.
Tibetan govt faces protest from Tibetans amid strained relations with India
S Gopal Puri| TNN | Mar 17, 2018, 11:04 IST
DHARAMSHALA: Amid worsening relations of Tibetan government in exile and India government, the former was facing protest from Tibetans itself.
Indian government’s recent move of asking its senior leaders and dignitaries had already scrapped various Tibetan events planned in Delhi.
On Saturday, number of protestors gathered near the Tibetan parliament protesting against Lobsang Sangay, the president of Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).
These were the members of the group Truth-Seeking Volunteers holding protest against Lobsang Sangay, leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile- Sikyong, following a rift between him and former speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile Penpa Tsering.
The protesters seek the impeachment of Tibetan President Sangay for actions which, they say, are akin to those of a dictator.
They are also seeking a reply from Sangay and his cabinet for terminating the services of Penpa Tsering, former representative of the office of Tibet in Washington from the office.
Tsering was sacked from the office on November 7, 2017, 15 months after his appointment. It is believed that the cause of Tsering’s ouster was that he raised the issue of a $ 1.5-million loan taken from the Tibet Fund in New York to purchase a new office in Washington.
Sangay had clarified in the parliament that $ 1.5 million was not a loan but a grant.
Thinley Kelsang, a protester, called for Sangay’s impeachment and said he had taken many decisions without the approval of the Tibetan parliament. There were enough reasons for his impeachment, he said.
A petition for his impeachment was submitted to members of parliament, which is holding its 10-day budget session.
The protesters from India, Nepal, Europe, and the US gathered at the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) premises. The protest will go on until the session ends on March 24.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/tibetan-govt-faces-protest-from-tibetans-amid-strained-relations-with-india/articleshow/63341379.cms

His Holiness on Why a Woman Should Be Very Attractive to Be a Candidate for the 15th Dalai Lama

How come a spiritual leader is commenting on the value of women based on their looks? This is not funny, not intelligent and not politically correct. It is wrong. It is debasing and makes people lose respect for a monk such as Dalai Lama for talking about human beings in this manner.

http://video.dorjeshugden.com/comment-videos/comment-1524861358.mp4