For Tibetans, March 10, 1959 is the day of their national uprising against the Chinese, which culminated in the flight of the Dalai Lama to India through Tawang. Indian authorities restricted this year’s commemorative demonstrations by Tibetans in Delhi; and their plans to organise a march on Lhasa, by crossing the border at an undisclosed point on an undisclosed date, are bound to be foiled by watchful Indian and Chinese agencies. The aim is to politically embarrass the Chinese, by exposing the Tibetan skeleton in their cupboard, just when China is engaged in image-building for the Olympics.

Tibet is at the heart of our border problem with China. Hu Jintao can well declaim that China’s stability is dependent on Tibet’s stability, but how can this be achieved if China refuses to deal with the Dalai Lama and keeps conflict alive by laying periodic claims to Arunachal Pradesh? Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s January visit to Arunachal Pradesh elicited the usual Chinese protest against trespass into their territory. Although the protest was at a middle diplomatic level, it does reveal the iron in China’s posture and its indifference to Indian public opinion.

Such protests are hardly in tune with the relationship attained between the two countries. Indian and Chinese leaders meet regularly. A bilateral strategic dialogue of sorts has begun. They are working together at the East Asian Summit and ASEAN-linked fora like the ARF. They cooperate in WTO discussions or in those on climate change. China now has observer status at SAARC, dissolving our past paranoia about Chinese intrusions into India’s geographical space. Peace on the border is being maintained despite the periodic testing of our nerves by the Chinese in ‘disputed’ areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Bilateral confidence building measures now include joint military exercises. Trade between the two is increasing faster than predictions, with the target now raised to $60 billion by 2010.

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