Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, July 15: Two senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentarians, Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar from Odisha and Sikkim Lok Sabha MP Dorjee Tshering Lepcha, have publicly backed Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu’s recent assertion that India shares its border with Tibet, not China. The lawmakers have urged the central government to formally replace the term “Indo-China border” with “Indo-Tibet border,” arguing that the shift reflects historical accuracy.
The political momentum around the terminology is part of a broader narrative gaining traction in India’s strategic and policy circles. MP Dorjee Tshering Lepcha had initially raised the demand in Parliament during the 2024 Budget Session, calling the existing designation a “historical inaccuracy.” In a recent interview with North East Live, Lepcha reiterated his stance, saying, “The border lies between India and Tibet, not India and China.” He added that he had also raised the issue again during the 2024 Summer Session.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu, in an interview with the Press Trust of India on July 10, reaffirmed this position, stating that the boundary India shares in the northeast is historically with Tibet. “China has no role in our local affairs. Our cultural and historical ties have always been with Tibet, not with China,” he said. Khandu also warned that China’s planned construction of a mega-dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) poses a potential “ticking water bomb” for downstream Indian states.
Echoing Khandu’s remarks, MP Lepcha said it is time to “correct the wrong terminology” and “acknowledge the historical reality.” He called on the Union government to direct all relevant agencies, including the Indian Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and Border Roads Organisation (BRO), to adopt the term “Indo-Tibet border” in all official communications and documentation.
Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar also expressed strong support for the renaming campaign. “We don’t share a border with China. What we have is a border with Tibet, which has been illegally occupied by China since 1950,” Kumar said, a day after CM Khandu’s statement. He further emphasized the need for Parliament to hold serious discussions on the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the ongoing cultural genocide on the plateau.
Kumar currently serves as the convenor of the All-Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet (APIPFT) and is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC). He has long advocated for stronger Indian engagement on Tibet and is actively canvassing support among fellow MPs for awarding the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honour to the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
One Response
Thank you very, very much Honourable Ministers Sujeet Kumar and Tsering Lepcha for raising the issue of Tibet in parliament! Thank you also to Honourable Pema Khandu, the chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh for explicitly stating “WE SHARE A BORDER WITH TIBET NOT CHINA! AS THE TWO MINISTERS HAVE CALLED UPON THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, IT IS PARAMOUNT TO REINSTITUTE INDO-TIBET BORDER WHICH IS AN INDISPUTABLE HISTORICAL FACT! TIBET WAS ILLEGALLY AND BRUTALLY OCCUPIED BY COMMUNIST CHINA IN 1949/50. TIBET WAS NEVER PART OF CHINA AT ANY TIME SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 127 BC. Indian leaders were duped by the Chinese communist rhetoric and cozied up with communist China and sacrificed Tibet on the alter of Sino-detente! Pandit Nehru went out of his way to endorse totally baseless Chinese claims over Tibet, assisted communist China’s admission into the UN and became the First Nation to recognise communist China! Yet communist China invaded and humiliated India in 1962! India’s endorsement greatly helped to legitimise Chinese fabricated claims over Tibet and brought communist China right at India’s door! HIn 2003, Atal Behari Bajpai rubbed salt over Tibet’s wound by bartering Tibet for the recognition of Sikkim as part of India! Tibetans are extremely thankful for India’s humanitarian assistance but feel gravely aggrieved by India’s rather sly move to benefit its interest while remaining indifferent to the plight of six million Tibetans who are now facing cultural GENOCIDE and ETHNOCIDE UNDER THE BRUTAL MILITARY OCCUPATION OF COMMUNIST CHINA! ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY TIBETANS HAVE COMMITTED SELF-IMMOLATION TO PROTEST THE BRUTAL TYRANNY OF THE CCP! IN ORDER TO RECTIFY ITS HIMALAYAN BLUNDER AND ALSO FOR THE PERPETUAL NATIONAL SECURITY OF INDIA, THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MUST SUPPORT THE TIBETAN FREEDOM MOVEMENT AND AWARD THE BHARAT RATNA TO HH THE DALAI LAMA!