New Delhi: Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, Khenpo Sonam Tenphel attended the 7th All India Tibet Support Groups Conference earlier today as the Chief Guest at the Closing session. The Core Group for Tibetan Cause-India, the apex body of all India Tibet Support Groups, organised this conference.

Speaker addressed his valedictory speech  as:

“Tashi Delek and Namaste to all the dignitaries, Renowned Author and Friend of Tibet Dr. Neerja Madhav, Former Vice Chancellor of Central University of Himachal Pradesh Prof. K.C. Agnihotri, National Convener of Core Group for Tibetan Cause-India Mr. Rinchin Khando Khrimey, Regional Convener Mr. Pankaj Goyal, other regional conveners, distinguished guests, brothers and sisters who are gathered here today. I would like to thank – Core Group for Tibetan Cause-India for inviting me here today, I am much honored.

Core Group for Tibetan Cause – India (CGTC-I), the apex body of all India Tibet Support Groups (TSGs) is the most active group who has actively carried out activities to keep the Tibetan movement alive all over India. India being our home and Guru for more than last 60 years has done so much for Tibet that we are always grateful for all the support that we have received over the past years. India is the only country who held our hand when we needed it the most; therefore, we are indebted to Indian government and its people.

Tibet and India share a strong bond culturally, geographically and historically. His Holiness the Dalai Lama often describes our relationship as Guru and Chela. India was a guru for bringing Buddhism to Tibet and now Tibetans are a reliable Chela for reviving the Ancient Indian knowledge back to its land. Hence, our relationship is embedded with friendship, love, respect and brotherhood dating back to ancient times. India’s consistent and unwavering support remains our great source of hope and inspiration in our movement and Core Group plays a very significant role in bringing our movement to the front line and keeping it alive in India.

The conflict between Tibet and China is not an internal affair, as China claims. It is an international concern as China is breaching the International law on human rights and has been showing its power in the international arena while disrespecting the international laws. China is not only applying its authoritative regime inside Tibet but it has been playing with the whole world with its brutal regime especially with its neighbours including India. The border tension has increased since the China- India military face-off in the Galwan Valley on June 15 2020, threatening the national security and integrity of India. Thereafter the two countries engaged in their deadliest military confrontations since 1962. India lost the lives of around 20 soldiers in the Galwan Valley during the face-off. Tibet remained a buffer zone until it was occupied by People’s Republic of China. By illegally occupying Tibet, China has forcefully shifted the traditional borders between India and Tibet into the Sino-Indian boundary. The Sino- Indian conflict over the Indo-Tibetan border remains as one of the longest geopolitical disputes in Asia and the centrality of Tibet is a key factor in resolving the China-India conflict. Therefore, it is not possible for India to avoid Tibet, as Tibet remains the key factor in Sino-Indian conflict. The need to resolve the issue of Tibet is imperative for India’s stability and peace with China.

After wrapping up the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress, the least surprising and most expected outcome was Xi Jinping securing his office for the third term. In 2018, Xi Jinping engineered a constitutional reform that eliminated the previous two-term limit on the Presidency, which means he can now rule indefinitely. His leadership poses threat to not just the minorities, but to the Chinese atrocities, which could have a global impact, threatening the national securities of the countries around the world including India. The whole world has also recently witnessed China’s inhumane and brutal regime during the outbreak of the pandemic. China was irresponsible for playing with so many lives. They lacked transparency, leading to a trust-deficit with the whole world and the problem hasn’t ended in Tibet yet. China is continuing to suppress Tibetans under the Zero Covid Policy, disabling the mobility of the Tibetans within Tibet and putting them inside four walls with no access to the outside world.

Although China is considered to be one of the most powerful countries economically but this cannot be a reason to breach all international laws. China cannot survive alone in this world. We are all interdependent, so we must not let this slide because in the end, China’s misbehaviour and misdeeds will impact the entire world. On the environment front, the destruction by PRC in Tibet is impacting the neighbouring countries, downstream nations and the whole world at large. China’s lofty claim of developing Tibet, in reality, has exploited the environment by causing a sudden decrease in wild life by killing and hunting the animals, excessive deforestation, water pollution from toxic mine waste and damming on the natural rivers. China claims that they have spent millions on environmental conservation projects but they have earned much more from mining and other resource extraction activities in Tibet. Therefore whatever China is doing in Tibet is only for their benefit in the name of development. China is also carrying out extensive infrastructure development in Tibet by building highways, rail links and airports aimed at military usage. These unprecedented expansion have significantly enabled the war waging capabilities of China, including against India.

Therefore, there is the need for all the stakeholders to work multilaterally to contain the ambitious PRC. I am well aware of the work that members of the Core Group carry out to strengthen the Tibetan movement. The Core Group acts as the mediator between the Tibetan Cause and India by bringing the Tibetan cause closer to the common Indian people. I am also very happy to learn that the 7th All India Tibet Support Groups Conference deliberated on important topics related to Tibet and its cause. I would like to thank each one of you for coming from your own places all the way to Delhi to attend this conference. Such large number of participants from across India shows the amount of support you have for our cause.

I conclude by thanking all the members for your contribution to the Tibetan cause and I hope you will continue to support our cause. I would also like to congratulate the new executive members of the Core Group For Tibetan cause- India. I wish you all the best and I look forward to working closely with you all to achieve our goal. Thank you! Thank you very much.”