Dharamshala, India — "The Doklam stand off and the repeated cross border incursion of Chinese soldiers into Indian territories is a sign of China's expansionist mindset. India needs to be wary of China's belligerent attitude," President Dr Lobsang Sangay told a delegation of around Indian journalists who paid a visit to the Central Tibetan Administration, Thursday morning.
About 40 editors, reporters and camerapersons representing the media fraternity of Himachal Pradesh called on CTA President Dr Lobsang Sangay at the Kashag secretariat of the CTA in Dharamshala, India, on Thursday morning, Janurary 11, 2018. The media delegates who are mostly from the state capital Shimla currently in Dharamshala to cover the ongoing winter session of the state legislative assembly.
During their interaction, President discussed a wide range of issues concerning India, Tibet and China. He spoke about China's growing expansionist designs, the Doklam standoff, Sino-Tibetan relations, Sino-Indian relations, the democratic structure of the CTA.
Speaking on Sino-India relations, Dr Sangay cautioned India against China's deceptive policies and warned that what happened to Tibet could happen to India. "The Doklam stand off and the repeated cross border incursion of Chinese soldiers into Indian territories is a sign of China's expansionist mindset. India needs to be wary of China's belligerent attitude," he said.
President highlighted His Holiness the Dalai Lama's great contribution towards world peace and commitment towards revival of ancient Indian values particularly the Nalanda school of thought in India. He also expressed gratitude to India and particularly Himachal Pradesh for hosting His Holiness the Dalai lama and the Central Tibetan Administration.
During the meeting, President also outlined the Kashag's upcoming programmes for 'thank you year 2018' to express gratefulness to all the governments, Tibet supporters and friends across the world, especially India for their consistent support for the Tibet cause as it will be exactly 60 years since His Holiness the Dalai Lama left Tibet for exile in India.
President Dr Sangay said that his administration would look into all the recommendations made at the forum, which was meant to strengthen and revitalize the Tibetan movement for the next five or, as the case may be, 50 years, and try to formulate policies based on them.
The Chinese Communist regime began their invasion of Tibet in 1949 with total occupation of the country occurring in 1959. Since that time, more than 1.2 million people, 20% of the nation's population of six million, have died as a direct result of China's invasion and occupation. In addition, over 99% of Tibet's six thousand religious monasteries, temples, and shrines, have been looted or decimated resulting in the destruction of hundreds of thousands of sacred Buddhist scriptures.
