SwordFish_13
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I found this Interestin Atricle ....... Just wanted to Share .......... About the Forgotten Tibet ......
Peace
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I found this Interestin Atricle ....... Just wanted to Share .......... About the Forgotten Tibet ......
Source:Reuters
LHASA, China (Reuters) - Tibet is one of the most isolated regions in the world, a mass of mountains and plateaus so high they are better suited to yaks than humans.
With its tiny economy and a population of fewer than 3 million, the region may seem insignificant in the foreign affairs of the Chinese government that has ruled it since the People's Liberation Army invaded in 1950.
But as China forges a new relationship with India, home to Tibet's government-in-exile, Tibet is finding its cause for independence squeezed by the growing friendship between its giant ruler and giant southern neighbor.
The Dalai Lama, Tibet's god-king, fled to India on horseback in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule and set up camp in the northern hill-station of Dharamsala.
But with his shadow government and huge concentration of Tibetan refugees there dependent on the goodwill of the Indian government, analysts say Tibetans will be watching the warming ties between Beijing and Delhi with caution.
"Tibet has been a major source of discomfort for India's relations with China for very many years," said Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, a research fellow at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
"BROTHERS"
Trade between China and India, the world's two most populous nations, soared to more than $13 billion in 2004 from $100 million a decade ago. This was despite China's close relationship with India's rival Pakistan, to whom it supplies weapons and hundreds of millions of dollars in development financing.
In 2003, the two countries held their first joint naval exercises with a handful of ships off China's eastern seaboard. Last year, India's army chief made a first trip to China in a decade.
On a visit to India in April, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called the two countries, who fought a border war in 1962, "brothers" and China formally recognized the remote Himalayan region of Sikkim as part of India.
"This would be very worrying to the Tibetans -- what happens to them in a period of burgeoning India-China relations?" Roy-Chaudhury said.
Tibet's government-in-exile says it is confident of its security in India and that of the approximately 80,000 Tibetan refugees who live there, but spokesman Thubten Samphel acknowledges the Tibetans' dependence on India's benevolence.
"His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan refugees' stay in India is granted on a humanitarian basis. Because of the respect His Holiness enjoys from the Indian public, we are not at all worried about our status in India," he said.
Tibetans, he said, could benefit from the improvement in relations between the Asian giants which might help convince the Chinese leadership that resolving the question of Tibet's sovereignty could be in its interest.
The Dalai Lama has said he is seeking greater autonomy for Tibet, not independence. His representatives and Chinese government envoys have held four rounds of dialogue, but analysts say an agreement on Tibet's status is still a long way off.
"We feel that improved relations between India and China will in a way be the basis for a proper solution to the Tibet issue," Thubten Samphel said by telephone from Dharamsala.
UNDER PRESSURE IN NEPAL
But a country's warm ties with China also have the potential to have a less benign impact on Tibetans living there. The impoverished Himalayan kingdom of Nepal is an example.
With Beijing a key aid donor and major trading partner, Nepal does not allow Tibetan refugees to organize any political activities that could jeopardize its ties with China.
This year, Nepal, home to an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Tibetans, ordered the closure of the Dalai Lama's local offices, saying they had no license to operate. Tibetans there said the action came under pressure from Beijing.
There has since been a crackdown on Tibetan refugees entering Nepal and increased deportation of Tibetans from border areas, Saunders said.
Kathmandu's relationship with Beijing has become all the more crucial since ties with India -- Nepal's biggest trading partner -- have wavered following King Gyanendra's seizure of absolute power in February.
"Nepal uses its strengthening relationship with China to offset its dependence on India. Tibet is of crucial importance in all of that dynamic," said Kate Saunders, of the International Campaign for Tibet.
But Tibet official Bian Ba Ci Ren said the border crossings of Tibetans into Nepal were illegal and "hurt the interests of the region."
"There are certain kinds of forces being instigated by the Dalai Lama and some anti-Chinese forces," he told reporters.
"The people come out but soon they find the outside world is not a paradise so they come back," he said.
While not going as far as Nepal on the Tibetan issue, India too, analysts say, is unlikely to rock the boat with China.
"My sense is that India ... does not want Tibet to become a spoiler in any sense in relations between the two countries," Roy-Chaudhury said.
"Delhi won't necessarily give up on Tibetans, but the signal is clear that the relationship with China is paramount."
Peace
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