Sikyong Penpa Tsering Emphasises Involvement of Younger … – Central Tibetan Administration

July 15, 2023

Sikyong Penpa Tsering addressing the students.

Dharamshala: An hour-long interactive session was held between Sikyong Penpa Tsering and some 50 Tibetan students from abroad on Friday, 14 July, during which, the students were apprised on the significance of Tibet and the political approach of the CTA in resolving the Sino-Tibet conflict.

While speaking on the significance of Tibet, Sikyong reiterated the necessity to counter China’s narrative of Tibet’s history and recognise that Tibet has always been an independent state.

To associate the statement pertaining Tibet’s independent status, Sikyong explained the history of Tibetan empire and its rise to prominence. He explained the origin and spread of Tibetan scriptures and Buddhism from ancient India indicating Tibet’s suzerainty for having its own language and religion.

He then spoke about Tibet’s significance vis-a-vis its geo-strategic importance to the global geopolitics. Tibet being the peace buffer state between two of the world’s largest population, India and China that are currently indulged in a repeated border conflict, Sikyong said Tibet represents a significant national security barrier. He further highlighted the significant aspects of Tibet’s environment to demonstrate its importance to ecological security and important water reservoir and hub of bio-diversity for South Asian countries.

“We are often under the illusion that people know about Tibet”, remarked Sikyong and urged the students to study these basic information about Tibet while stating that now was the right time to talk about Tibet as China deals with confluence of economic crises.

As for resolving the standing Sino-Tibet conflict, Sikyong reiterated Middle away Approach as the absolute political stand of the CTA.

He further emphasised the responsibility of the younger generation in shaping the international perception of Tibet from that of a victim of Chinese colonial rule to that of a parter in dealing with China.

One group of the visiting students from Europe and U.S are participants of the Summer Tibetan Study Program while the other group is from Belgium’s Tibetan Language and Culture School who are on a week-long education tour of Dharamshala.