CTA’s Environmental Researcher
Attends Conference on Tibet
[Thursday, 27 January 2011, 4:35
p.m.]
DHARAMSHALA:
An environmental researcher of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)
participated in a conference on “Relevance of Tibet in the Emerging
Regional Situation” at the India International Centre in Delhi on 25
January.
The
conference, organised by the Foundation for Non-violent Alternatives
(FNA), an institute for developing peace studies, was divided into
three sessions.
The
speakers at the conference include top Indian diplomats, experts on
Tibet, China and India studies, environmental researcher, experts on
defence studies and noted journalists among others.
The
first session dealt with finding relevance of Tibet in Sino-Indian
relations, for which speakers deliberated on Tibet’s past history and
current situation including infrastructure development in Tibet and its
foreseeable impact on India. The discussion was chaired by Lt Gen
Vinay Shanker, veteran former director general of Indian army
(artillery) and speakers include Ambassador Ranjit Gupta, India’s
Ambassador to Yemen, Venezuela, Sultanate of Oman, Thailand, Spain and
Head of Office in Taiwan; Claude Arpi, noted author and expert on
Tibet, China and Indo-French relations; Ms Chokyi, an environmental
researcher at the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA); Maj Gen Sheru
Thapliyal, who is also an expert on defence studies and Mr RSN Singh,
former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer and associate editor of
Indian Defense Review.
Ms
Chokyi, a researcher at the Environment and Development Desk of the
Department of Information and International Relations, CTA, spoke on
the state of environment in Tibet and its consequences for India. She
talked about the current warming of the Tibetan plateau due to glacier
meltdown, and the lake outbursts in Tibet that resulted in loss of
lives and properties in India in the past few years.
Mr
Claude Arpi, an eminent Tibetologist, took up the issue of China
engaging in a frenzy of dam building on rivers in Tibet, particularly
on Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra river in India).
The
second session focused on ‘China in South Asia especially in light of
the Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao’s recent visit to India and
Pakistan’. The session was chaired by Hari Singh, veteran journalist
and president of Editors Guild of India. The speakers were Kanwal
Sibal, ambassador and former foreign secretary of India; Indrani Bagchi,
diplomatic editor of the Times of India; Alka Acharya, professor of
Chinese Studies in the Jawaharlal Nehru University and member of the
National Security Board of the government of India.
The
third session was on the importance of Tibet for stability in China
and India. Speakers, including Sunanda K Datta Ray, editor of The
Statesman (Calcutta and New Delhi) and Jayadeva Ranade, former
additional secretary in the cabinet secretariat.
Mr
O.P. Tandon, an expert in managing educational and cultural
institutions of national importance and who was responsible in setting
up the Tibetan Parliamentary and Policy Research Centre (TPPRC),
delivered the concluding remarks.
“There
were constructive discussions after each session and the experts feel
their views and proposals would bear positive impact on the current
situation,” Ms Chokyi told Tibet.Net.
