India wants a agency, extra assertive Tibet coverage to counter China. A dialogue

After weeks of intense negotiations between Democrats and Republicans and uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s signature on the large spending invoice, the President lastly signed into legislation The Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 on December 27, 2020. With a $2.3 trillion spending package deal, this invoice is taken into account to be the biggest spending invoice, and the longest invoice (5593 pages) ever handed by Congress. 
Among different points, this invoice comprises the “Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020”. Unlike the Tibet Policy Act of 2002, the brand new act is considerably extra complete and assertive. For occasion, part 13 of the Tibet Policy Act 2002 have a clause that reads: 
“The Secretary of State shall make best efforts to establish a branch office in Lhasa, Tibet, of the United States Consulate General in Chengdu, People’s Republic of China, to monitor political, economic, and cultural developments in Tibet.” 
In the Tibet Policy and Support Act of 2020, this demand is coupled with the coverage assertion that learn: 
“The Secretary may not authorize the establishment in the United States of any additional consulate of the People’s Republic of China until a United States consulate in Lhasa, Tibet, is established under subsection.” 
For Tibetans worldwide, beneath the management of the Central Tibetan Administration (Tibetan government-in-exile) and the blessing of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, this historic act is a matter of nice pleasure and satisfaction. In truth, ‘Tibet’ has been talked about 130 occasions in these 5593 pages lengthy invoice. No different nations, besides China (131 occasions), have been talked about extra. Other associated points, similar to Uyghurs and Hong Kong, have been talked about just one and 25 occasions, respectively.  
Succession or reincarnation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
One of essentially the most vital insertions within the new Act of 2020 is a matter regarding the “succession or reincarnation” of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The act categorically said that:
“decisions regarding the selection, education, and veneration of Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders are exclusively spiritual matters that should be made by the appropriate religious authorities within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and in the context of the will of practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism” and “the wishes of the 14th Dalai Lama, including any written instructions, should play a key role in the selection, education, and veneration of a future 15th Dalai Lama; and interference by the Government of the People’s Republic of China or any other government in the process of recognizing a successor or reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama and any future Dalai Lamas would represent a clear abuse of the right to religious freedom of Tibetan people.”
The act additional said that any Chinese official who instantly interfered with figuring out future Dalai Lama could be sanctioned. 
The act additionally applauded the Tibetan exile group for the apply of democracy in exile. It acknowledged the Central Tibetan Administration and Sikyong (President) because the representatives “to the greeted extent” of the aspiration of the “Tibetan diaspora” world wide. Another vital insertion to the act is part 343, i.e., Policy relating to the setting and water assets on the Tibetan Plateau. The act said that the U.S. would encourage a regional framework on water safety amongst riparian nations. 
The significance of Tibet for India
Throughout the recorded historical past of Tibet, no different civilization or nation have been extra grateful for Tibet than India. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, upon whom the hopes of six million Tibetan relaxation, typically determine himself as a “Son of India.” Just like every Indian, Tibetans too will have fun if India occupies a extra outstanding position on the worldwide stage because it deserves. The greatest impediment for India’s extra outstanding position on the worldwide stage, similar to changing into a everlasting member UN Security Council, is accelerating China’s aggression.
The continued Chinese aggression on the Indian border area of Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh has develop into too pricey each by way of human casualties and financial burden. In one in all my empirical analyses, I’ve proven that from 1954 – 2019, the continued Chinese occupation of Tibet price the Indian tax-payer US$ 462.8 billion (with none adjustment to inflation and change charge fluctuation), i.e., about US$ 7.16 billion yearly. 
It is now excessive time that India also needs to undertake a extra assertive stand on the Tibet difficulty in coping with China. One technique is to undertake India’s model of Tibet coverage just like the Tibet Policy and Support Act of 2020 of the US. India presently has an govt coverage (not a legislation) on Tibetans in India known as “Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy 2014.” While this coverage was a big growth for Tibetans’ welfare in India, it’s devoid of any substantive relevance on core problems with Tibet, that’s, damaging Chinese insurance policies in Tibet and Tibetans’ demand for freedom in Tibet.
In phrases of relevance, the problems addressed within the US authorities’s Act, similar to reincarnation of the His Holiness The Dalai Lama and setting and water assets on the Tibetan Plateau, have a much more direct implication on India than the US. Just like Tibetans, tens of millions of Indians, notably in states like Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, West Bengal, and Arunachal worship His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Similarly, on the Tibetan plateau’s water assets, as talked about within the Tibet Policy and Support Act of 2020, rivers from Tibet provide recent water to an estimated 1.8 billion individuals. Almost half of the water (48%) that flows from the Tibetan plateau runs instantly into India. Without a extra assertive coverage framework from India, China’s standing as higher riparian and absolute management over these rivers not solely provides China a chokehold on India’s economic system however might price the catastrophic lack of numerous human lives. 
It is excessive time that India ought to take a agency stand to cope with China by adopting a extra assertive coverage framework relating to Tibet or by affirming the unlawful nature of the Chinese occupation of Tibet and recognizing Tibet as an occupied territory. Ultimately, Tibet’s freedom is India’s greatest long-term safety.