Tibet should be core issue for India: Dr Lobsang Sangay

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Dr Lobsang Sangay, the President of exile Tibetan government, also known as the 'Central Tibetan Administration' (CTA), has asserted that Tibet should be a core issue for India as it is for China, and urged India to acknowledge its importance and discuss the issue.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Dr Sangay said that if India wants to understand China it has to know Tibet first. He also said that frequent border clashes between India and China is the result of not taking Tibet as the core issue by India.

"India has shared the border with Tibet for thousands of years without any problems, but since the occupation, it has come under attack from China. India has been crores in safeguarding its border with China. India-China border is originally India-Tibet border.

"Even the United States has now realized the importance of Tibet and framed new laws to officially recognize the CTA. Now, it is time for India to consider Tibet as the core issue. I am currently visiting the North Eastern States to create awareness about Tibet," said Dr Sangay.

Dr Sangay also visited Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya before arriving in the city. He said that there is a need to set up institutes in the North East that enroll students and youths for in-depth studies on Tibet.

Responding to journalists' questions on China dumping nuclear wastes in Tibet and constructing big dams which are polluting the mighty Brahmaputra on the Indian side, Dr Sangay said that China is extracting huge reservoirs of minerals in Tibet without adhering to environmental guidelines of the United Nations. He also said that such illegal extraction of minerals by China must have generated chemicals that could pollute the Brahmaputra.

Dr Sangay while expressing his gratitude to India said no government or country has done more for Tibetans than this great nation called 'Bharat'.

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