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India+US can end Chinese Communist Party expansionism, says Tibetan monk who met Blinken

In an exclusive interview to ThePrint, Geshe Dorji Damdul, Director, Tibet House, said Chinese expansionism policy is ‘greatest threat' to world peace and democracy.

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New Delhi: India and the US can collectively bring an “end” to the expansionism strategy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by being the “civilised role model” for the world, said Geshe Dorji Damdul, Director, Tibet House.

In an exclusive interview to ThePrint, Dorji, who was part of the Civil Society Roundtable that was organised during the visit of US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken last week, said if India had not given refuge to the Tibetans, they would have had to “live in fear and suspicion all the time”.

“India as the largest democratic nation, and USA as the oldest democracy collectively can be the civilised role model for the world to bring an end to the expansionism of CCP, which is otherwise the greatest threat to world peace, and democracy,” Dorji told ThePrint.

During his maiden visit to New Delhi, the Joe Biden administration sent out a strong signal to China from India.

Apart from Dorji, Blinken also met Ngodup Dongchung, representative of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and key figure in the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), or the Tibetan government-in-exile, in a separate meeting.

Dorji said during the meeting with the US Secretary of State, he spoke about “inclusivity” and the teachings of the Dalai Lama who observed that there are “loopholes” in modern education as “it emphasises the development of the brain and not at all on the development of the heart”.

“He (Dalai Lama) calls upon nations to include what he calls ‘Universal Ethics’ as a curriculum in the modern education system,” Dorji added.

“While His Holiness is Buddhist, he teaches ‘Universal Ethics’ in the world more than Buddhism, thereby encouraging others to be human first and other identities as secondary. He believes that this will bring inclusive development in the world,” Dorji further said.

During the roundtable, Blinken gave a speech on ‘Inclusive Development,’ Dorji said, adding that he was “truly impressed by the speech … He spoke on the need for universal responsibility for dealing with global issues such as the Covid pandemic. He also emphasised on shared values and that everyone should have a voice,” he said.

The meeting with Tibetan leaders has irked Beijing, which opposed the move and said this is “violation of the US commitment to acknowledging Tibet being part of China.”


Also Read: Tibet can’t be used as leverage by India with China, needs resolution: President-elect Tsering


‘US support for Tibet message to the world to check CCP’

According to Dorji, it is imperative that the US continues to support the Tibetan cause as this will impart a strong message to the world. “What the Joe Biden administration is doing to support Tibet is a great message for the world that unless the world puts a check on CCP today, it can really destroy the principle of democracy, rule of law and civility in the world,” Dorji, who was earlier an interpreter for the Dalai Lama, said.

What happened to Tibet can happen to all over the world over time, he cautioned.
Referring to the ongoing border standoff between India and China in eastern Ladakh, which began in April-May 2020, Dorji said the CCP uses “bully-boy-tactics to bully neighbouring countries.”

“The CCP only believes in expansionism. What we witness today is that the CCP uses money to buy some countries. And other times, uses bullying tactics on neighboring countries. They are blinded from the cognitive awareness that what they have done to Tibet and what they are doing today to all over the world actually exposes them. USA and India collectively can help China gain that cognitive sense and make them become civilised,” (sic) he stressed.

‘India doing a lot for Tibetans’

Dorji believes had India not given shelter to the Tibetans who fled their land in search of a peaceful life here, they would have been in dire straits.

“India had already done and is still doing a lot for Tibetans in India. After all, India is the land which gave birth to the extremely precious principles of civilisation, non-violence, and love for humanity. I could well imagine the plight of the Tibetans today, having to live in fear and suspicion all the time, had not they been able to escape from the brutal rule under CCP,” he said.

Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping embarked on a three-day visit to Tibet and met officials of the Tibet Military Command. The visit was seen as a threat to India by the US.

(Edited by Paramita Ghosh)


Also read: India raises pitch against Pakistan, asks it to ‘vacate all areas under illegal occupation’


 

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