Tibetan Youth Congress Protests Xi Jinping’s Planned India Visit Ahead of BRICS Summit
By Tenzin Chokyi
DHARAMSALA, 11 Sept: Over 200 members of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), representing 20 regional chapters across India, staged a “Chalo Delhi” demonstration in the national capital on Friday to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s upcoming participation in the 2026 BRICS Summit hosted by India.
The protesters marched from Majnu Ka Tila to Punjabi Bagh Basti, leveraging Xi’s expected visit to highlight Beijing’s ongoing policies in occupied Tibet, which the organisation characterised as colonial rule resulting in the systematic erosion of Tibetan culture, religion, language, and national identity.
The demonstration took place a day after Beijing officially confirmed on 10 September that President Xi would travel to India for the summit. Xi is scheduled to arrive on 12 September, joining several foreign delegations and heads of state who have already begun arriving in New Delhi.
Clarifying its political stance, the TYC emphasised that the demonstration was directed exclusively at President Xi and the Chinese leadership, rather than the BRICS forum or India’s host responsibilities. The organisation commended India for convening the multilateral gathering.
Addressing the rally, TYC Vice President Tashi Targyal described the protest as a defence of Tibetan identity and a moral imperative. “We are opposing a leader who leads the force that is annihilating our nation and its people,” Targyal said. “TYC Centrex and all its regional chapters condemn it, and more importantly, as Tibetans, we unequivocally condemn his visit.”
Targyal noted that despite stringent security measures enforced across New Delhi ahead of the summit, the TYC secured the necessary official permissions to conduct the demonstration.
Several prominent exile Tibetan leaders attended the rally, including former Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile Deputy Speaker Acharya Yeshi Phuntsok, former Central Tibetan Administration Security Kalon (Minister) Gyari Dolma, sitting members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile Gyaltsen Choekye Gagya, Wangdue Dorjee, and Kunchok Rinchen.
In a statement issued during the march, the TYC called on India and other BRICS member states to directly address the Tibetan issue with the Chinese delegation during bilateral and multilateral sessions.
The organisation also raised concerns over Beijing’s recently implemented “Ethnic Unity and Progress Law,” alongside large-scale infrastructure and hydroelectric dam development across the Tibetan Plateau.
Highlighting recent catastrophic flooding in Nepal and occupied Tibet, the TYC warned that unchecked dam construction and environmental degradation on the plateau present immediate ecological and security risks for downstream South and Southeast Asian nations dependent on rivers originating in Tibet.
