India mum on environmental losses due to China’s Tibet policies: Academic

Anand Kumar pointed to China’s efforts to alter the courses of rivers originating in Tibet, seven of which flow through countries in South and Southeast Asia, under the guise of development. These actions pose significant environmental challenges for countries sharing natural resources with Tibet, he said.

Bengaluru: India, despite being the world’s largest democracy and a champion of anti-colonial struggles, has not responded strongly to Tibet’s environmental losses caused by Chinese encroachments, Anand Kumar, a sociologist and former professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said here on Thursday.

Kumar made these remarks while delivering a talk on Indo-Tibet Relations, Tibetan Plateau, and India’s Climate Security at an event organised by Mount Carmel College in collaboration with the Central Tibetan Administration, South Zone, Bengaluru.

He pointed to China’s efforts to alter the courses of rivers originating in Tibet, seven of which flow through countries in South and Southeast Asia, under the guise of development. These actions pose significant environmental challenges for countries sharing natural resources with Tibet, he added.

Environmental activist Soumyadeep Datta also addressed the lack of substantial regional language resources on Tibet's history of struggles, contrasting it with the vast resources in English. He called for including the histories of neighbouring countries in Indian curricula to underscore the impact of global warming, particularly on regions like Tibet.

Datta further said vast stretches of India’s northeastern states are grappling with environmental degradation.

The discussions were part of the celebrations marking the 89th birthday of the Dalai Lama and included traditional prayers by Buddhist monks from Mundgod and a cultural dance performance by Gangjong Doegar, a troupe from Kalimpong, West Bengal.