Dharamshala: The Tibet Policy Institute held a seminar today in its conference room to hear insights from the former Indian Ambassador to Greece, Shri Dilip Sinha, who has recently published his work discussing how Tibet emerged as a playground for the geopolitical aspirations of its neighbouring empires.

The talk session was attended by Tibetan Parliamentarians Dorjee Tseten and Tenzin Choezin; Secretary of the Department of Finance, Tsering Dhondup; Secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations, Karma Choeying; Secretary of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Chhime Rigzin Chhoekyapa; and Tibetan researchers and media personnels based in Dharamshala. 

Before the guest speaker’s presentation, the Director of Tibet Policy Institute, Secretary Dawa Tsering, delivered a welcome address and presented short remarks on the former Ambassador’s publication Imperial Games in Tibet: The Struggle for Statehood and Sovereignty.

Likewise, the Deputy Director of the Tibet Policy Institute, Tempa Gyaltsen Zamlha, briefly introduced the erstwhile Ambassador, who has also served as the head of India’s United Nations affairs during its Security Council membership and was Ambassador to the UN in Geneva.

The former Indian diplomat Dilip Sinha, in his two-hour-long talk, delved into how Tibet became a focal point in the 19th century during the Great Game rivalry between the British and Russian empires and how Tibet was converted into a buffer state for the two empires that eventually benefited China in its false claim over Tibet. The speaker further shed light on India’s foreign policy concerning Tibet after the latter’s illegal occupation by the People’s Republic of China and how the current plight of Tibet resulted from a series of miscalculations and misfortunes. 

After concluding his presentation, a Q&A session was held and publications of Tibet Policy Institute were presented as souvenirs to the visiting speaker as a token of appreciation.

Later that afternoon, the former Ambassador and his wife, Shrimi Sinha, met and interacted with Sikyong Penpa Tsering at the Kashag secretariat.