Ladakh CRO Hosts Tibet Awareness Session for 40 ITBP Trainers
By Tenzin Chokyi
DHARAMSALA 19 Sept: The Chief Representative Office (CRO) of Ladakh in the Sonamling Settlement today hosted over 40 trainers from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) at the CRO Hall for an awareness programme on the life and works of the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet — an initiative that also resonates with Tibet’s historical assertions at a time of heightened Chinese expansionism along the Indo-Tibet border.
According to Tibet.net, the official webpage of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the trainees were given a brief overview of the CTA (commonly known as the Tibetan government in exile) and the Sonamling Tibetan settlement. An exhibition on the life and legacy of the Dalai Lama was showcased, further highlighting the contributions of his four principal commitments.
In addition, the CRO has introduced three autobiographies of the Tibetan spiritual leader, reflecting the trajectory of his experience from the Chinese occupation of Tibet to life in exile in India and his seven decades of struggle with China for the Tibetan cause: My Land and My People(1960), Freedom in Exile (1990), and The Voice for the Voiceless (2015).
Tibet: A Political History by T.W.D Shakapa, the then Finance Minister (1939–1951) of Independent Tibet, was introduced as a key legitimate historical reference. The book is widely recognised as the first modern political history of Tibet written by a Tibetan.
Building on this historical perspective, the formation and deployment of the ITBP highlight the strategic significance of Tibet between India and China.
The name ITBP and the context in which the paramilitary force was formed lie at the core of the India–China border issue. Historically, India shared its northern frontier with Tibet, a sovereign state that was often regarded in geopolitical terms as a buffer between the two Asian countries.
This status changed violently with the beginning of the Chinese colonial occupation of Tibet in the 1950s by the People’s Republic of China, transforming the Indo-Tibet border into the Indo-China border.
China’s complete colonial control over Tibet in 1959 ultimately contributed to the 1962 border war between India and China, which broke out in October of that year.
The conflict also rendered the Panchsheel Agreement of 1954 ineffective, under which India had formally recognised Tibet as part of China in exchange for peaceful coexistence. Although the agreement had technically expired in April 1962, the war brought it to an end in practice.
The ITBP as a paramilitary force was raised on October 24 1962, while the war was still ongoing, with the purpose of reorganising India’s frontier intelligence and security setup along the Indo-Tibetan border.
Initially, the ITBP’s responsibility was confined to the Western Sector of the India–Tibet border, covering Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, while the Eastern Sector, including Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, was patrolled by the Assam Rifles.In sensitive forward areas, the Indian Army also maintained direct control.
However, following a 2004 decision, under a “one-nation, one-force” approach, the ITBP became the sole force guarding the entire 3,488 km India–China border, from the Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh, while the Assam Rifles’ role shifted exclusively to the India–Myanmar border, giving the ITBP a uniform mandate and expanding its operational scope along the northern frontier.
