World Watches India's Response to Tibet

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India's support for the Dalai Lama has long been a thorn in relations with Beijing. About 100,000 Tibetans live there in exile. Tibet's government-in-exile is in McLeodganj, a tiny town adjoining Dharamsala. It functions as a government, complete with a prime minister, finance minister, and education and health-care departments. Its offices look like any other typical government office in India—polished wood panels, red painted cement floors, worn carpeting. It has a budget: $216.7 million for 2008-09.

About 27.5% of the funds are allocated for the welfare of refugees, and 23% to support political activities. New Delhi supports all the educational and cultural institutions of the Tibetans, says Finance Secretary Sonam Khorlatsang, helping to preserve their heritage and religion. The Tibetans have integrated into the country. They have intermarried and speak English with an Indian accent, and fluent Hindi as well.

"Overcautious" India Policy

The U.S. is the second largest donor, according to Khorlatsang, providing an estimated $2 million in humanitarian aid a year. The rest of the money comes from the global donations received by the Dalai Lama, and from a 2% tithe that the Tibetan community in India gives to Dharamsala.

So India's virtual silence in response to the Chinese crackdown in Tibet appears deeply discouraging. The Dalai Lama says India's policy toward Tibet and China is "overcautious" and the government in exile would like India to persuade Beijing to resume talks with the Dalai Lama. "We are all feeling desperate," says Tenzin Takhla, the spokesman for the Dalai Lama.

Some Indian politicians are rallying to the Tibetan cause. On Mar. 17, Kiren Rijiju, a 36-year-old member of India's Parliament who hails from Arunachal Pradesh—the state over which China has claims—brought up the issue of Tibet in Parliament. It caused an uproar, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the ruling Congress Party of abandoning Tibet to "ethnic cleansing." Rijiju says the Indian government "must impress upon Beijing that it should immediately initiate dialogue with the Dalai Lama to find a solution to Tibet, and it must urge the international community to put pressure on China to start those negotiations."

The outcome of India's intervention has serious geopolitical implications. Bharat Varma, a former army captain who served on the northern borders of India and is now editor of the Indian Defence Review, says "There cannot be any peace in Asia until Tibet is resolved. That resolution involves three countries—India, China, and Tibet."

India bureau chief Manjeet Kripalani reported this story from Dharamsala