Arunachal shares a border with Tibet, China has no role in Dalai's successor: Khandu

Guwahati: Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu in a pointed and strategic statement on Wednesday asserted that originally his state shares a 1200-km long border with Tibet, not China.

Khandu's statement made in an interview with PTI in New Delhi shortly after returning attending the 14th Dalai Lama's 90th birthday at Dharamshala, subtly rejected Beijing's narrative and underscores that the region's identity is distinct from China's claim over entire Arunachal Pradesh as "South Tibet" or Zangnan and its frequent practice of renaming places in the state to assert its claims.

When the interviewer suggested that Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,200-km border with China, Khandu instantly shot back, "Let me correct you here. We share a border with Tibet and not China."

Khandu went on saying China forcefully occupied Tibet in 1950 and today officially Tibet is under China and "that can't be ruled out. But originally, we share border with Tibet. In Arunachal, we share three international boundaries - with Bhutan approximately 150 kms, with Tibet 1200 kms, which is one of the longest in the country and on the eastern side Myanmar approximately 550 kms."

He buttressed his statement saying that if one looks at the map, "none of the Indian states directly share borders with China. We share the border with Tibet only."

From the political timing and symbolism, Khandu's statement serves as a diplomatic message at a time when China has intensified its rhetoric on the Dalai Lama's succession.

Khandu's remarks also reinforce union Kiren Rijiju's, also a Buddhist from Arunachal Pradesh, direct counter to China's longstanding claim that only Beijing can approve the next Dalai Lama. Rijiju, a few days back saying that the decision on the Dalai Lama's successor rests solely with the Dalai Lama and the established Tibetan Buddhist conventions—not with any government, including China.

The Dalai Lama, meanwhile, has declared that the Gaden Phodrang Trust (his official office) alone holds the authority to recognize his future reincarnation, and that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue on Tibetan terms.

Amid these, Khandu's border clarification is more than a semantic distinction—it appears to be a deliberate assertion of India's historical and legal claims, a gesture of solidarity with Tibet, and a challenge to China's territorial narrative and this move is likely to increase diplomatic friction, complicate border negotiations, and reinforce the deep trust deficit that currently characterizes India-China relations.

Khandu also said that the world's largest dam project on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, the Tibetan name for Brahmaputra, being built by China near the Arunachal Pradesh border will be a ticking "water bomb", an existential threat and a bigger issue than anything else apart from the military threat.

Khandu said the dam project is a matter of grave concern as China is not a signatory to the international water treaty that could have forced it to abide by international norms and cautioned, "The issue is that China cannot be trusted. No one knows what they might do."

Had China signed the international water treaty, Khandu said, there would have been no problem because it would be mandatory to release a certain amount of water downstream for the basin, for aquatic and marine life.

"But China is not a signatory, and that is the problem... Suppose the dam is built and they suddenly release water, our entire Siang belt would be destroyed. In particular, the Adi tribe and similar groups... would see all their property, land, and especially human life, suffer devastating effects," he said.

The chief minister said that because of this, after discussions with the Government of India, the Arunachal Pradesh government has conceived a project called the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, which will serve as a defence mechanism and ensure water

For this reason, Khandu said, the state government is holding discussions with the local Adi tribes and others in the area.

Asked what the government can do against the Chinese move, the chief minister said the government just cannot simply protest and sit idle.

"Who will make China understand? Since we cannot make China see reason, it is better that we focus on our own defence mechanisms and preparations. That is what we are fully engaged in at the moment," he told PTI.

Khandu also pointed out that The Dalai Lama should be honoured with the Bharat Ratna and he will soon be writing to the central government to recommend India's highest civilian award for the Tibetan spiritual leader

On the succession of the 14th Dalai Lama, Khandu said that Beijing has no locus standi in the selection of the next Dalai Lama since Tibetan Buddhism is not even practised in mainland China unlike in Tibet and the Himalayan regions of India.

"I don't know why China is objecting to it, they must have their own policy. In mainland China, there are followers of Buddhism, which is ancient, just like in other nations. However, the Dalai Lama Institute is only in Tibet, and people from the Himalayan belt follow him. There is no Dalai Lama Institute in China, so I do not know how China is going to decide. China has no role in it," he told PTI