Tibet-India Delegation Meets in Arunachal to Counter China’s Water Politics at India-Tibet Border
By Tenzin Chokyi

DHARAMSALA, 27 Jan: Penpa Tsering, the President of the Central Tibetan Administration(CTA), commonly known as the Tibetan Government in Exile, participated in a day-long seminar on “Environment and Security” on Friday last week to address China’s rampant damming along the India-Tibet border. The seminar was held at the state Legislative Assembly hall in Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh(AP), in the Presence of the Chief Minister, Pema Khandu.
The Seminar comes in response to China’s approval of plans to construct the world’s largest and the riskiest hydro-power project along the Yarlung Tsangpo River in occupied Tibet which flows into India via the Indian state of AP. This has caused a grave state of insecurity for riparian states like India and Bangladesh.
Organised by the Tibet Support Group of AP, the seminar was attended by notable Tibet supporters, including Indian Parliamentarian Tapir Gao, renowned Tibetologist Vijay Kranti and Rinchen Khando Krimay, the National Convener of the Core Group for the Tibetan Cause.
The Tibetan delegation, led by Sikyong Tsering, (the political head of the exiled Tibetans) includes the Tibetan Settlement Officer from Tenzingang in AP, Rapten Tsering and the Coordinator of the India-Tibet Coordination Office, Tashi Dekyi, among others.
Pema Khandu, the Chief Minister of AP in his inaugural speech expressed concerns in the northeastern region over China’s refusal to enter into international water treaties.
He said the seminar holds “the significance of finding solutions to mitigate the alarming environmental situation in Tibet” which he said, “poses significant risks to the entire region”.
According to Tibet.net, the official webpage of the CTA, the Sikyong also expressed concerns over China’s growing global influence and its disruption of the Himalayan border region and India’s Maritime areas.
The Sikyong reiterated the establishment of the McMahon line during the Simla Convention, a treaty between Tibetan and British India, which demarcated the border between Tibet and India.
Since China’s occupation of Tibet, China has denied this treaty and made various attempts to claim the Indian state of AP as southern Tibet to impose its sovereignty over the region.
This intensifies the issue with the West-East Energy Transfer project, where China is constructing massive hydropower projects to redirect the flow of some of the world’s largest and most vital rivers from occupied Tibet towards its arid northern regions.
The seminar attended by both the Tibetan and the Indian delegates echoed a collective initiative of the people at the receiving end of China’s aggressive development strategy.
Citing grave Human rights violations and mismanagement of natural resources in Tibet and concerns over the Mega-dam project on the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra, MP Tapir Goa, who is also the Co-Convenor of the all-party Indian parliamentarian forum for Tibet said “We must collectively voice our opposition to this pressing issue” and reiterated his call on the Indian government to officially recognise the institution of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.