Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 20 Thursday met with a bipartisan United States Congressional delegation, led by Congressman Michael McCaul, that had met the Dalai Lama the previous day. Former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, notorious anti-China leader who had stirred up trouble in 2022 by visiting Taiwan, is also an active leader in the delegation that was visiting India (June16-20), and Gregory Meeks, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Nicole Malliotakis, Ami Bera, and Jim McGovern are the other members.
The events are well-timed: US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar as he is in Delhi on June 17 and 18 on an official visit for the second meeting of the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET). Sullivan also met his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, just renewed as the NSA. Doval was earlier the chief of RAW, India’s CIA.
Initial media reports, particularly in India, were more concealing than revealing the real motives and plans around the visit of a top bipartisan American delegation to India.They concealed what was to happen in next 48 hours, in relation to Dalai Lama, who is used as a pawn in US hegemonic, strategic games.But reports elsewhere came out with some details of the US strategy, discussed in this important, revealing article, featuring some photographs, covering the hectic week with events surrounding the Dalai Lama:
The 88-year-old Dalai Lama is scheduled to travel to the US, for medical treatment on his knees, scmp reported 19 Jun 2024, from Washington.
Indeed….This June 21 morning, the Dalai Lama, departed for the USA (ostensibly) to undergo medical treatment for his knees (tibet.net reported). He left in a car (HP 68A 2570). Related photos were published as he was seen off by CTA officials, apart from people.
If he was going to USA, why should a big delegation come all the way to India, meet him here, the Indian PM, the foreign Minister and other officials? What was cooking? Why the Indian media failed to report the travel plan in advance?
He could have been provided the best treatment in India, but the real purpose is revealed by pro-West, anti-China expert, Brahma Chellaney ( project-syndicate.org, Jun 21, 2024).
“ China is eagerly awaiting his demise, so that it can install a puppet successor,” he alleged, and went on to advise USA and India:
“..bowing to Chinese pressure, most countries – including European democracies and Asia’s Buddhist states (except Japan) – are unwilling to grant him entry… (this is covered up by the American and Indian media)..
“Fortunately, some countries have retained their backbones. The US is hosting the Dalai Lama for knee treatment, and India has proudly been his home for more than 65 years.”
(The fact is those countries are not so much blinded by prejudice, as USA and India, and their media are. A EU Human Rights official team, with a backbone, was visiting Tibet around the same time. See brief mention, given below, in a later section.)
“ President Joe Biden should take the opportunity presented by the Dalai Lama’s knee treatment to fulfill a 2020 campaign promise to meet with the Dalai Lama. More broadly, the US should work with India to devise a multilateral strategy to counter Xi’s plan to capture the more than 600-year-old institution of the Dalai Lama. This must include efforts to persuade the Dalai Lama to spell out, once and for all, the rules that must be followed to identify his successor.”
Modi’s hosting of the delegation was a “very explicit signal”, an American expert said, that New Delhi was “fully” behind the delegation’s audience with the Dalai Lama, and it seemed as though India was “trying to signal that it can use its relationship with the US as leverage,” against China. (PMO did not reveal details in its readout..)
The bipartisan delegation also met with External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Wednesday. Jaishankar appreciated their “strong and continued” support for the strategic partnership between India and the US.
(DD News With ANI input)
India’s subservience to US policy on China is also bi-partisan….
Congress party being more loyal than the king:
Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), former Union Minister of State for External Affairs, and former Under Secretary General of the UN, paid a visit to the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile on 30 May 2024. It was towards the end of the election campaign. The delegation led by Dr. Tharoor had a meeting with Dalai Lama and CTA officials, including the members of the Public Accounts Committee of the CTA.
He highlighted the enduring support Tibet and its people have received from both the Indian government and its citizens, transcending political affiliations.
CTA’s Deputy Speaker expressed gratitude to the delegation for Dr. Tharoor’s enduring support for the Tibetan cause, particularly for meeting with delegations from the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile during their advocacy visits to Delhi. He urged for Dr. Tharoor’s continued support with the same vigour, citing his valuable presence at the 8th World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet in Washington DC in 2022, and encouraged his participation in the upcoming 9th World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet.
“Dr. Shashi Tharoor is a supporter of Tibet and also a member of the International Network of Parliamentarians on Tibet (INPaT), says the Report filed by Tibetan Parliament in Exile.
It is notable that no country, including the USA and those of the EU, recognize Tibet as an independent entity. Nor India does, whether Congress was in power or BJP.
“Ignoring China’s ire, PM Modi meets US team that called on Dalai Lama.” That caption in the Times of India, Jun 21, 2024, brings out the significance of the first major foreign policy event of the current regime. (More on the ire later..)
The delegation described India-US relations as the most consequential one and expressed their strong support for further deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Global Partnership in all areas, including trade, new and emerging technology, defence and people-to-people exchanges.
“Pleasure to meet with the bipartisan US Congressional delegation… Appreciate their strong and continued support for the India-US strategic partnership,” Jaishankar wrote.
Right now India protests Canada’s actions, including its parliament’s mourning (on June 18) Nijjar’s death, in relation to Khalistanis. India sees it as an interference in Indian affairs, and an encouragement to separatism.
The double-tongued policy Modi regime has been criticized earlier by many like ..
Suhasini Haidar …@suhasinih (The Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu)
“In one month, our govt has issued statements on events in US (capitol riots), Sri Lanka (devolution), Pakistan (Temple attack) etc…, and also told half a dozen countries they have no right to comment on Indian “internal matters” (farmers protests, CAA,J&K etc)..”
But everyone can see India hosting for decades a Tibetan “government-in-exile,” and its renewed political activity, now very brazen. It goes against all cannons of international law, against UN Charter, even as India backs USA harping on a “rules-based world order,” an euphemism for a hegemonism of USA.
It allows a foreign dignitary, Pelosi, brazenly ranting against China, from the Indian soil: “ You the President of china, you will be gone, and nobody will give you credit for anything”. US House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman McCaul affirmed that “US would not allow China to interfere with Dalai Lama’s succession”. (Times of India, June 20.). What business has America has in this affair? And how can India tail USA on all this?
Reflecting the changed view, and a further shift in policy, of the Indian Establishment, TOI June 21, said in its editorial: “ India has stopped referring to the One China policy for years…New Delhi should have no hesitation in backing the Tibetan cause. India needs leverage. And the Tibet issue is a big one.”
India’s MEA clarified that Dalai Lama is allowed only “religious and spiritual activities.” As regards the statements made by the delegation, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said it is for them to answer (TOI June 22,2024).
But none would swallow its claims, as the political activity by the Dalai Lama is all too evident to cover up. See photos below:
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China issues a warning vowing “resolute measures” if Washington fails to honour its commitments regarding Tibet
The bipartisan United States Congressional delegation met with the Dalai Lama, in India’s Dharamshala on June 19, Wednesday. McCaul presented the Dalai Lama with a framed copy of “The Resolve Tibet Act,” a bipartisan bill passed by the US Congress to enhance US support for Tibet. China deems it as interference in its internal matters.
Nancy Pelosi, the former US House speaker, addressing the Tibetan parliament-in-exile at Dharamshala, India on June 18. (Photo:Reuters) . It was her 2022 visit to Taiwan that jeopardized US relations with China. Observers fear similar consequences for India-China ties.
China justifiably protested brazen interference by USA on the Indian soil
And now one can see the reason behind china’s ire:
“It’s known by all that the 14th Dalai Lama is not a pure religious figure, but a political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said. He called on Washington “to fully recognise the anti-China separatist nature of the Dalai group, honour the commitments the US has made to China” on issues related to “Xizang” – the Chinese name for Tibet. China urged the US to “have no contact with the Dalai group in any form, and stop sending the wrong signal to the world.”
Biden renewed the commitments only to violate them.
Specifically, Lin warned US President Joe Biden not to support recently passed congressional legislation – the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act – that challenges China’s claim of control over Tibet. “The US must not sign the bill into law,” Lin said. “China will take resolute measures to firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests.” (19 Jun 2024,SCMP).
Observers recalled Pelosi’s 2022 visit as speaker to Taiwan prompted Beijing to suspend all cooperation with Washington for months. This visit could complicate Biden’s recent attempts to stabilise ties with China.
Concerted provocations by pro-West forces
The visit by the US delegation is not isolated, but is part of a series of concerted provocations by pro-West forces, as seen below.
On March 11 Monday, 35 members of the Tibetan Youth Congress were detained after holding a protest outside the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi.
Canada’s Parliament has unanimously passed a (nonbinding ) motion in the House of Commons advocating for Tibet’s right to self-determination (rfa.org, 2024.06.11).
It recognizes Tibetans as “a people and a nation.”
“In a groundswell of support, over 100 candidates from 16 European Union countries committed to supporting the Tibetan people in the European Parliament ahead of the recent 2024 European elections, which took place in early June. About 25 of these candidates were elected.” (International Campaign for Tibet, savetibet.org, June 11, 2024).
“EU Opposes China’s Interference in Succession of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at 39th EU-China Human Rights Dialogue,” reported tibet.net, June 18, 2024.
We have shown, in a detailed article, how such news is faked, distorted, and re-circulated as part of world-wide disinformation by India. It was such fake news that led to an investigation in Europe, which published Indian chronicles:
(Disinformation, a key instrument of India’s foreign policy in relation to China and Pakistan? (01/07/2023)
Indian people are forced to rely on Anglo-saxon media regarding China, we wrote (24/06/2023):
“ The diplomatic relations between India and China have been further downgraded with the expulsion of the last remaining Indian journalist reporting from Beijing. According to a report in Bloomberg, KJM Varma, a reporter with the Press Trust of India, has been asked to leave the mainland by the end of the month (June, 2023)…
China explained why:
“The Indian government’s brutal treatment has put enormous psychological pressure on Chinese journalists in India,” Hu Xiaoming wrote, saying visa applications from Chinese journalists have not been approved since 2020.
Anurag Viswanath, an indepndent Sinologist based in Singapore, wrote: “ China has alleged unfair and discriminatory treatment of its journalists. India has not approved visas since 2020, leading to a drop from 14 journalists to one.”
Now we got the US-Dalai Lama link, as to why India has not approved their visas (explained later in this article.)
While thus blocking the genuine media, distorted coverage is rampant:
“ A total of 115 candidates signed the pledge and committed to defending the EU against China’s threats to security and interference in European democracies.. They also pledged to support the Tibetan people in their peaceful freedom struggle against Chinese repression…”
“The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) – which spans about half of historical Tibet – is uniquely subjected to wide-ranging restrictions on access. These restrictions are not in force in any other provincial-level entity in the People’s Republic of China…”
Such are the distorted and fake reports, by the US lobby. We see some facts below:
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EU Human Rights teams visit Tibet, even while the US spreads lies
The EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell had visited Tibet (including Lhasa), when he was President of the European Parliament in 2006. He was followed in 2009 by another head of an EU Institution, the President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Mario Sepi.
In 2017, the EU Ambassador to China, Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, and a group of Ambassadors of EU member states to China paid an official visit to the TAR at the invitation of the TAR authorities. Stavros Lambrinidis, the former EU Special Representative for Human Rights, had been allowed to visit Tibet in September 2013…
A more factual report of 2024 June is presently given by a EU team. See extracts:
The 39th EU-China Human Rights Dialogue which took place in Chongqing on 16 June was preceded by a rare side visit (by EU team) to Tibet between 13 and 15 June 2024. US and Indian media show Tibet as a forbidden area none allowed to visit. The scope of the visit can be seen here:
“ Prior to the Human Rights Dialogue, the EU delegation made a side visit to Nyingchi and Lhasa. The short and dense programme organized by the relevant Chinese authorities at central and local level included visits to boarding schools, municipalities, cultural and religious sites, relocated Tibetan families, as well as to a prison… the visit seems to have reflected the majority of the EU’s requests, except for meetings with individual prisoners. The visit provided an opportunity to gain a certain understanding of the reality on the ground and challenges in the Tibet Autonomous Region…” (EU External Action, 39th Human Rights Dialog with EU in Chongqing, June 17,2024)
“ During the Dialogue, the EU also recognised China’s development achievements which have resulted in significant poverty alleviation among its population.
“China provided information on its laws and procedures which, in the view of the EU, clearly prioritise national security and counter-terrorism over the protection of fundamental freedoms, including in Xinjiang and Tibet…(common for all States, more so the USA and West, “counter-terrorism” taking racist and communal overtones)..
“China raised the situation and treatment of refugees and migrants, and manifestations of racism and xenophobia in the EU. China also focused on economic, social and cultural rights, while, in the context of business and human rights, the EU updated on incoming European legislation that will introduce human rights due diligence requirements for companies, including in their value chains..
The EU no doubt stressed that the selection of religious leaders should happen without any government interference and in respect of religious norms, including in the case of the succession of the Dalai Lama. China has explained its own norms and laws on this question.
That is beyond the scope of this article, focused on US hegemony and interference.
Notice the prominent building facade, in the photo below.
Though termed as addressing the USA, the Chinese warning applies to India as well, which is providing its soil to USA for such violations. Given India’s subservience to the US’ China policy, it is to be surmised as such.
Earlier on 17 June 2024, a group of Delhi based diplomats and experts, including from German Embassy in New Delhi, also visited Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (photo above by tibet.net, shows the building of the CTA, which released several photos of both events). They held a meeting with Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel and others, at the parliamentary secretariat. See the display of CTA on the building.
“Thousands marched in rallies around the world on March 10 Sunday..hoisted the Tibetan flag to mark the 65th anniversary of the Tibetan 1959 Uprising against China… to voice their hope for a (Tibetan) homeland where they can live freely. “ In Dharamsala, India – home of the Dalai Lama, crowds listened to speeches and later marched through the hillside town, chanting and carrying banners and Tibetan flags…(see photo below).
Exile Tibetans carry flags and shout slogans as they participate in a rally to commemorate the anniversary of the 1959 uprising in Tibet, in Dharamsala, India, March 10, 2024. (Ashwini Bhatia/AP). Western news agencies are known to orchestrate and shoot such notorious photo shoots, with a handful of hand-picked “participants.” It is part of Disinformation campaign (by USA and India) mentioned elsewhere in this article.
The Dalai Lama has written to PM Modi, June 5, 2024, to congratulate him on his election victory, and the National Democratic Alliance’s emerging as the winner in the Lok Sabha elections. He also greeted separately the Foreign Minister Jayshankar and newly elected CMs of Arunachal pradesh and Sikkim.
https://www.dalailama.com/news/2024/congratulating-the-indian-prime-minister
All the above are purely political activities, on the Indian soil, and too well publicized. It is illegal, and against UN Charter. China objected to that even as the teams were scheduled to arrive. The MEA has to answer, but evaded. But the facts are all there before the world.
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A provocative US Bill on Tibet, backed by allocation of funds
Bill S.138, titled “Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Conflict Act”, is the Senate version of the bipartisan House bill HR. 533, which the House passed earlier on February 15 with a strong majority.
The Promoting a Resolution Bill was passed by both houses of the US federal legislature, most recently by the House of Representatives last Wednesday, June 12, and received broad bipartisan support, The Hill reported.
The US Congress had earlier passed a Bill, H.R.533 on Feb 15 last, promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act, on issues relating to Tibet, including by establishing a statutory (we may add, an expanded) definition of Tibet:
“For the purposes of U.S. policies and activities relating to Tibet, this bill defines Tibet to include the TAR and specified areas designated by China’s government as Tibetan Autonomous in Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan provinces. (Generally, when China’s government refers to Tibet, it means only the TAR..”
(https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/533)
The bill will now move forward to President Biden’s office for final approval. When asked if Biden would sign the Bill – which is officially titled the ‘Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act’ – into law soon, McCaul said according to Reuters: “Yes, he will, he will.” Biden wants to show it before the Presidential polls ahead.
“This bill is a message to the Chinese govt that we have clarity in our thinking and our understanding of this issue of the freedom of Tibet,” said Pelosi, addressing a public ceremony outside Dalai Lama’s residence.
The present Bill is preceded by another old Bill, H.R.6948 – To authorize the President to recognize the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China as a separate, independent country (2019-2020). It is necessary that Taiwan and Tibet should be recognized as sovereign countries, which is a necessary step to curtail and defeat China’s expansionist ambitions, wion news had reported. (huge funds from diverse routes are allocated for the dark deeds, backed by the CIA.)
https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/world-should-give-recognition-to-taiwan-and-tibet-299484
Availability of amounts to counter “disinformation” by China
“Amounts authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available under section 346 of the Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020 (subtitle E of title III of division FF of Public Law 116–260) are authorized to be made available to counter disinformation about Tibet from the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, including disinformation about the history of Tibet, the Tibetan people, and Tibetan institutions, including that of the Dalai Lama.”
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/138/text
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The boot is on the other leg… USA and its media are increasingly notorious for disinformation and misinformation
The Trust levels (expressed in percentages) of leading US media fell to new lows in recent years : New York Times scored 50, Wall Street Journal 49, CNN 48, Washington Post 46. BBC 62, and financial times 57 are also lower than before. RISJ – Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, conducted a 47-country survey, TOI reported( June 20). Though the report does not make a cross-country comparison, TOI claimed a trust score of 71, the highest for India.
Reputed US- born global journalist, late Andre Vltchek, familiar to countercurrents readers, pointed it out years ago, and wrote that many Americans don’t trust US media, particularly its anti-China disinformation.
Indian media’s disinformation, particularly in relation to China and Pakistan, was exposed in the columns of countercurrents.org. The story exposed also the mode of misinformation, through a chain of stories relayed and recast by hundreds of media outlets.
RFA, phayul.com, tibet.in, CTA channels are among channels that are notorious, cooking stories against China, Pakistan and their alleged conspiracies against India, and the West.
Modi-led India blows up foreign media stories that are favorable to it. Going beyond misinformation, India however has been suppressing the media, including foreign. Even the BBC faced its wrath.What of china?
Xinhua journalists were directed to leave India for allegedly meeting anti-Dalai Lama faction
“Three scribes from China news agency Xinhua were directed to leave India by end of this week’,said a report of Economic Times, Jul 28, 2016.
“The visas granted to Wu Qiang and Lu Tang, who respectively headed Xinhua’s bureaus in Delhi and Mumbai, as well as to She Yonggang, a reporter in Mumbai bureau of the agency, had expired several months ago. “ However, they had been granted fortnightly extensions and the Xinhua was asked to send their replacements. Xinhua is yet to send replacements for the three scribes.”
The real reasons are political, and at the behest of the USA and the Dalai lama lobby:
“ They were allegedly in touch with the anti-Dalai Lama faction in Tibetan settlements in Bylakuppe and Mundgod areas of Karnataka.
“ The journalists’ visits to these settlements since April (2016) and their interactions with anti-Dalai Lama faction did not go down well with Indian authorities…”
The faction was revealing the other side of Dalai lama, projected as a pious monk and an unrivalled leader of Tibetans, covered up by the US and India:
“The Serpom Monastic University at Bylakuppe and Shar Ganden monastery in Mundgod are among the main centres of the Dorje Shugden sect in India. The Dalai Lama had to witness demonstration by the members of the Dorje Shugden sect during his visits to the UK and the US. Hundreds of western Shugden practitioners have staged demonstrations against the Dalai Lama, most recently in 2015 in Cambridge, and 2014 in San Francisco, Berkeley, Washington DC, Oslo, Rotterdam, and Frankfurt”
They accuse Dalai Lama of autocracy, nepotism, religious tyranny and sponsoring secessionism. According to investigation by a global news agency China’s ruling Communist Party backs this sect.
(Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury,Economic Times, ET Bureau, July 28, 2016)
It is USA, with India as its junior partner, that has been using Dalai Lama as a tool for its global hegemonic strategy, directed against China.
A little of it came out of Wikileaks a few years ago, and only some of it was reported by the Indian media. Its Founder, Julian Assange has been hunted, harassed, and imprisoned by imperialists. But Indian media, touted as “free and democratic” remained shameless, and covered up the whole story despite it having even a sensational value. Such is the vice grip of imperialism and its junior partners on the media. Countercurrents.org has been relentless and fearless in its exposure, including the CIA links of the Dalai Lama (see links given at the end of this article).
When the Dalai Lama left the White House,after meeting Obama, Feb 19, 2010, he was ushered out of the back door, “ where a mound of trash awaited him”, reported Christian Science Monitor. That sums up how, despite his announcements of retirement from politics, he was always used by hegemonists, through back-door methods : Now he is again taken away to USA in the name of knee-treatment, which is readily available in India, a renowned medical hub, also for foreigners. Brahma Chellany and his ilk advised a weary Biden,with his own fears and concerns in an election year, to meet the Dalai Lama using the “opportunity” created by various lobbies.
Tibet , Dalai Lama and USA, an article by this author and published by countercurrents.org, April 30, 2019, brought out much about him and his US-CIA links. It was a bold and independent editor who dared to publish the article with authentic sources.
https://countercurrents.org/2019/04/tibet-dalai-lama-and-usa-ramakrishnan
It is natural and justified that China is angry about it all. And it adversely impacts India China ties.
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“Growing US-India cooperation could have been one of the triggers of the border clashes in the first place.” said an American expert
“With an undisguised glee, Uncle Sam is nudging India into further spats with China.” Illustration: GT. “India should be wary of the West’s trap of “China vs. India” narrative,” commented Global Times, Apr 26, 2023, in a different context.
“US lawmakers meeting Modi after Dalai Lama signals New Delhi shift on China: analysts.” That is how a SCMP Report, 21 Jun 2024 from Washington, presented the events.
“Had a very good exchange of views with friends from the US Congress in a delegation,” Modi posted on X, formerly Twitter, adding that he “deeply” valued the “strong bipartisan support in advancing the India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership”. These developments and the election results clouded some important developments.
Even as the new Cabinet (essentially the old Core team) was sworn in on June 9…
“ The newly elected National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, led by PM Modi, has approved, on Jun 11 2024, the renaming of 30 places in Tibet, signaling a strong response to China’s nomenclature aggression in Arunachal Pradesh. The names will be released by the Indian Army and updated on their maps along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), media reported.
The delegation’s visit coincided with a trip (June 17) by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbe ll to New Delhi, where both sides agreed to increase cooperation in hi tech and vowed to further bolster military ties.
“India has once again indicated that it is willing to gradually ramp up pressure on issues like Tibet and Taiwan,” said Harsh Pant, an international relations professor at King’s College London. India’s foreign policy towards China, he said, has been undergoing a “gradual calibrated change” since 2020 Galwan clash. Since then, multiple rounds of diplomatic and military-level talks have failed to normalise relations. Both nations maintain a significant number of troops and advanced weaponry along the border.
In April, Beijing said that the border dispute was “not the entirety” of its relations with New Delhi, calling for steady ties. But India, unlike in the past, won’t agree with that.
Michael Kugelman, Wilson Centre, USA, said that it seemed as though India was “trying to signal that it can use its relationship with the US as leverage”. Modi’s hosting of the delegation was a “very explicit signal”, he said, that New Delhi was “fully” behind the delegation’s audience with the Dalai Lama, and that it wasn’t just “politely” facilitating it. “India appears more risk tolerant now when it comes to how far it’s willing to go with pushing the Tibet issue,” Kugelman said.
While US-India security relations are deeper than ever before, Kugelman said, the US delegation’s meeting with the Dalai Lama could have consequences along the “Line of Actual Control” (LAC), the disputed 3,000-km (1,864 miles) Himalayan border, where China may react..
“That’s a real risk and will be something to watch,” he said, suggesting that the growing US-India cooperation could have been one of the triggers of the border clashes in the first place.
Recalling the extensive military exercises China conducted around Taiwan after Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in 2022, Kugelman said that her latest trip could give Beijing a “pretext to try to push back in a big way against India or the US or their allies”.
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This move is a direct retort to China’s renaming of 30 places in Arunachal Pradesh in April, Indian media reported. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has maintained that assigning “invented” names does not alter the reality. But it found no other way.
Taking charge as External Affairs Minister (EAM) yet again, S Jaishankar on June 11 “ reaffirmed the country’s robust stance on issues concerning China and Pakistan, stating that both border issues and cross-border terrorism will be dealt with firmly.
“As far as Pakistan and China are concerned, the relations with those countries are different, and the problems there are also different. Our focus with regard to China will be on finding a solution for the border issues, and with Pakistan, we would want to find a solution to the issue of years-old cross-border terrorism,” Jaishankar said after assuming office.
For finding a solution for the border issues, or else? See the context:
National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and US NSA Jake Sullivan during a meeting, in New Delhi, Monday, June 17, 2024. (PTI Photo). Sullivan team also met the PM and MEA.
Both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in a range of areas — Defence technology, Space, Artificial Intelligence, High-Performance Computing, critical minerals among others, PTI reported.
According to a joint fact-sheet, Doval and Sullivan chaired the second meeting of the India-U.S. initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) in New Delhi in which they “set the vision for the next chapter of our strategic technology partnership”.
The fact-sheet said that they launched a new strategic semiconductor partnership between U.S. and Indian companies for precision-guided ammunition and other national security-focused electronics platforms.
As Sullivan visited India, an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, charged with trying to hire a hitman to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader in the U.S., appeared in court in New York June 17 Monday following his extradition from the Czech Republic.
Allegations by U.S. prosecutors of the involvement of an Indian government official in the plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen, have raised concerns about a strain in bilateral ties. The U.S. allegations followed accusations leveled by Canada in September of involvement of Indian nationals in the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader.
India, which views Sikh separatist groups overseas as security threats, has denied its involvement in both the killing in Canada and the alleged plot in the U.S. But it said it has set up an inquiry committee to examine the information provided by Washington.
Analysts in New Delhi say ties are unlikely to be adversely impacted by the alleged murder plot.
Despite conflict with the USA and Canada, who are playing up the Khalistani -Nijjar issue, Modi-led India is more keen on its subservient relations with the hegemonic super power, and its Asia Pacific strategy:
“India is committed to further strengthen the India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership for global good,” Modi wrote on X after meeting Sullivan.
“The initiative, launched with an eye to countering China, marks a significant push in tightening the strategic partnership between the two countries”, media reported.
In Washington, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters June 17 Monday that Mr. Sullivan’s trip to India will further deepen the already strong U.S.-India partnership to create a safer and more prosperous Indo-Pacific.”
May be “prosperous” for the billionaires and global weapons’ lobbies, but it is not “safer” for India and its people being drawn into the US war games. People should take note, oppose subservient foreign policy, and demand an independent policy of friendship and cooperation, particularly our neighbors.
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(See for more on these issues
Indian Hawks Join Hands With US Vultures Against China, June 16, 2020.
https://countercurrents.org/2020/06/indian-hawks-join-hands-with-us-vultures-against-china/)
Dalai Lama turns 85 today and 60 years of that he served US imperialism, operating from Indian soil, playing havoc with India-China Relations (06/07/2020)
https://countercurrents.org/2020/07/dalai-lama-turns-85-today
Disinformation, a key instrument of India’s foreign policy in relation to China and Pakistan? (01/07/2023)
( The author is a political observer, who contributed to countercurrents.org.)
