This book is an attempt to provide an overview of the political and strategic process at work in the Buddhist Himalayas. While trying to understand the various intricate issues in the region, an attempt has been made to trace the Tibetan factors that impinge on India. The book is mostly about identifying critical points that are important for evolving a sound Indian policy towards this strategic Himalayan region.
The book does not in any sense purport to be an academic endeavour on Buddhist. Tibetan or Himalayan studies but merely a narrative as well as an analytical account-a result of my own self-education and understanding gathered through extensive interactions with wide sections of people all over the Himalayas, including in Nepal and Bhutan. The book contains aspects that are critical for enhancing India's further understanding of the complexities of the Buddhist Himalayas.
While writing the book, I have largely relied on official sources and vernacular media reporting. Some of the points identified as well as analysed are a result of my participation in various conferences, seminars and discussion held in the region over the years. Some of the impressions I have gathered are based on personal visits to various places in Sikkim, Bhutan, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Nepal and West Bengal.
Being a native of the Himalayan region has definitely helped in writing this book. The facts and opinions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or position of the government. Assumptions made within the analysis are also not reflective of the position held by the departments and institutions where I have served in the past.
Let me first thank Swati Chopra, my editor at Penguin Random House India, whose excitement over the subject was a driving force for writing this book. I would not have indulged in writing such a manuscript but for her insistence. She has been instrumental in my being able to share my views and perspective on an issue of critical importance to Himalayan and Indian security. I am grateful to Shreya Chakravertty for the time she spent in copy-editing and minutely going through the manuscript. I appreciate her guidance.
I wish to thank everyone who gave me valuable inputs for understanding the issues, especially Dr M.S. Pratiba for helping me collect material and translate articles from Chinese into English. I must also thank my daughter Shumzin Wangmo for helping me arrange meetings with various organizations and experts in Delhi and other cities.
I must also express gratitude to my siblings, my wife, Rigzin Yangdol, and my daughters, Nansel Odbum and Shumzin Wangmo, for their constant love and support. And finally, I must also acknowledge the encouragement and affections extended to me by my former colleagues at the IDSA, especially Ms Prabha Murthy, Ms Shabonti Roy Dadwal, Dr Uttam Sinha, Dr Rajiv Nayan and Dr Ashok Behuria.
The Himalayas has been a theatre of competition by proxy between India and China for over half a century now. The two countries have been locked in a long-standing unresolved border dispute in this extensive mountain range that stretches from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. It has witnessed dramatic military stand-offs that have not turned bloody since November 1962. This aside, China's meddling with Himalayan river flows, especially the diversion of the Brahmaputra and Sutlej waters for hydroelectric dam construction, has frequently chafed India. India's concerns also include China's increasing footprint in Nepal-long regarded as part of the former's sphere of influence.
The military dimension of the Himalayas, especially China's systematic building of infrastructure, means for reconnaissance and surveillance and operational capabilities, has remained a part of India's security discourse for decades. The US Department of Defense has occasionally been cautioned about China's increasing troop build-up along the Indian border in addition to it establishing 'naval logistic hubs' in Pakistan.
Very little is known about the pattern of other shadowy wars that are non-military in nature, launched by both sides in the Himalayas; these are not easily discernible but have an equally powerful impact on the shaky balance of Himalayan security.
China has been standing by Pakistan to destabilize the Kashmir Valley through proxy sponsorship of terrorist activities and by consistently blocking the listing of Pakistan-based terrorists in the United Nations (UN) list. In the eastern Himalayas, China has been playing the religion card to claim the Tawang region from India. The Chinese have also openly supported various insurgent groups, including the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).
In the central Himalayas, China supported the Maoist insurgency during the civil war in Nepal during 1996-2006. It continues to influence the people of Nepal to undercut their natural affinity with India.
While China also faces problems both in its Xinjiang province and the Tibet Autonomous Region, so far no direct Indian involvement has been observed in either. India has been engaged in a shadow-boxing game by holding on to its "Tibet card for almost six decades. In 2016, New Delhi tried to add the Xinjiang card to its arsenal by issuing a visa to an Uyghur activist to attend the Eleventh Inter-ethnic/Interfaith Leadership Conference organized by Dharamshala. For the moment, though. China seems to be in firm control of both Tibet and Xinjiang. and there are no visible signs of it facing any major challenges on either of these fronts. Of course, one cannot predict what will happen in the longer run.
According to conventional wisdom, the Indian Himalayan region at least is peaceful, and this freedom of religion and democracy has ensured stability on our side of the mountain range. But, sadly, this is no longer the case. The Indian Himalayan belt from Tawang to Ladakh has been subject to a string of incendiary events which are threatening to pitchfork the region into crisis.
The Indian Buddhist Himalayan complexity is fast changing and could be a source of considerable concern for India's security. In part, this seems to be arising from an excessive Tibetan influence ('Tibetanization') in the Himalayas via a gradual taking over of Indian institutions by Tibetan lamas in the Buddhist Himalayas. Worryingly, more powerful lamas are seen setting up their parallel sectarian networks and infrastructure from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. They have also brought along their cultural and sectarian affiliations, differences and discords (intrinsic to Tibetan politics) that could potentially destabilize the Indian Himalayas.
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