Articles By Claude Arpi
Use Tibet links, counter China in the Himalayas
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 29 Nov , 2020
For millennia, the Himalayas have been an active bridge between the Indic and Tibetan civilisations. The great physical barrier has been a place of intense contacts between two worlds which shared...
Why India needs to Rethink its Tibet Policy, if there’s one
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 25 Nov , 2020
On 20 November, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) proudly announced that its Sikyong (president), Lobsang Sangay, had entered the White House. Dharamsala called it “a historic feat”,...
Indian Army Ignores Chinese Propaganda
By: Claude Arpi | Issue: Courtesy: http://claudearpi.blogspot.in/ | Date: 23 Nov , 2020
“PLA unveils new smartwatch for combat rescue, it features IoT SIM card, health tracking, Beidou positioning, individual recognition, SOS voice calling, injury reporting, rescue sensing, one key...
The Tibet Factor in India-China Relations
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 22 Nov , 2020
Seventy Years Ago: Tibet Invaded October 7, 2020 marks the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) crossing the Upper Yangtze and entering into the territory controlled...
India’s big blunders and China changing the posts
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 15 Nov , 2020
One of the greatest tragedies of post-Independence India is having let China occupy the Aksai Chin plateau and with barely any protest. The nation still suffers the consequences of this blunder...
Trouble Brewing over the Middle Kingdom
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 10 Nov , 2020
Is China doing well? The Fifth Plenum of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was held between October 26 and 29 at Beijing’s Jingxi Hotel; if one is to believe the...
The Soldier who Won India's First Param Vir Chakra
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 06 Nov , 2020
Our story starts during in the early days of October 1947 when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru received a message from a former deputy commissioner of Dera Ismail Khan [one of the province’s main...
A Nation without a Memory is a Dead Nation
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 04 Nov , 2020
I wrote for Friends of Tibet about The Importance of Memory October 7, 2020 marked the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) crossing the Upper Yangtze, entering into...
About the Land Dispute with Nepal
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 30 Oct , 2020
On May 8, 2020, an argument erupted between India and Nepal; the immediate reason which triggered the debate was an 80 km road between Darchula to Lipulekh, the border pass near the trijunction...
Step up pressure on Xi; bring France into Quad
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 27 Oct , 2020
An Indian army convoy moves on the Srinagar- Ladakh highway at Gagangeer, northeast of Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir. The Indian military said it apprehended a Chinese soldier Monday, Oct....
Gilgit-Baltistan, a Bit of History
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 21 Oct , 2020
Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) was recently in the news; according to Pakistani media, it will soon become the fifth province of the country. The announcement was made by Ali Amin Gandapur, the federal...
70 Years ago: War and 'Liberation' - The Battle of Chamdo
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 12 Oct , 2020
On the occasion of the 70 years of the Battle of Chamdo (October 7, 1950), I republished this article War and Liberation which originally appeared in the USI Journal (April 2016 – June 2016...
The Ladakhi Galère
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 06 Oct , 2020
It seems obvious to everybody that the Chinese leadership has blundered in jumping too fast and too deep into the Ladakh adventure. A few ambitious generals in Chengdu’s Western Theater Command...
The Line of Control which Never Was
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 04 Oct , 2020
China has recently triggered a controversy about an imaginary Line of Actual Control of 1959, which never existed. If one goes through the Notes, Memoranda and letters Exchanged and Agreements...
About Borders
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 01 Oct , 2020
For centuries, the subcontinent was separated from the Tibetan plateau by the most formidable natural barrier, the Himalaya. This border has been remarkably peaceful from time immemorial. It is...
India has Changed Since 1962: China’s Adventure may end Xi’s Dream
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 27 Sep , 2020
The situation is fast deteriorating in Ladakh. For China, it took a turn for the worst when India captured a ridge on the southern bank of the Pangong tso (lake). The fact that the Tibetan...
India and its Saga of 'Reneged' International Promises
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 25 Sep , 2020
Global Times is famous (or infamous) for saying that black is white and vice-versa; and at the end, arguing that everybody should admire Red China. For the past five months, the tabloid has...
The Tibet factor in India-China relations
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 22 Sep , 2020
The virus which originated in Wuhan, China and the unexpected attack by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Indian frontiers in Ladakh have forced India to re-look at her relations with China....
Dragon and the art of selective amnesia
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 18 Sep , 2020
Zhao Lijian, the ‘wolfwarrior’ and spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, did it again. On 7 September, during a press briefing, when asked to provide details about five...
Old Chinese habits die hard but have we learnt the lessons?
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 11 Sep , 2020
China’s questionable conduct regarding border and territory disputes has raised eyebrows time and again. What remains to be seen now is whether India can learn from history to prevent it from...