THE GREAT GAME IN THE BUDDHIST HIMALAYAS : INDIA AND CHINA’S QUEST
FOR STRATEGIC DOMINANCE
by
PUNCHOK STOBDAN
Intro
1. The Great Game in the Buddhist Himalayas : India and China’s Quest for
Strategic Dominance draws out historic, strategic, religious & cultural angles that
weave New Delhi & Beijing’s modern day stance along the Himalayas. In these
awesome 328 pages, one can understand some well meaning attempts that looked at
specific sectors of the Himalayan Region by both the Asian tyrants India & china. This is
one book that sees & narrates the entire flow of historic events & political games in
Indo-Chinese perspective wherein almost all the previous books on the subject gave the
readers the British perspective. These pages apart from bringing out history, It
questions the India’s existing Tibet policy & explains how the modern day Buddhism in
Himalayas is influenced due to Tibetanisation while Indian Buddhist institutions are
being taken over by Tibetan Lamas. The author in his Great Game stresses the need
for strong reforms by India to dominate Himalayan region strategically & religiously.
About Author
2. Ambassador Punchok Stobdan is a distinguished academician, diplomat &
author. He is also an expert on foreign policy & national security.
3. Punchok is also a known authority on central & inner Asian affairs. He last served
as India’s ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic. He has previously served in the National
security council secretariat & been director of the centre for strategic studies in Jammu
& Kashmir.
4. He is the founding president of the Ladakh International Centre, Leh, & has been
senior fellow at the institute for Defence Studies & Analysis, New Delhi, as well as
distinguished fellow at the United Services Institution.
Summary
5. The book is divided into 16 chapters by the author as he drives us through his
ideology. The 16 chapters as dealt by the author are as follows:-
(a) Chapter 1. In the first chapter author gives us an overview of the brief
profile of Himalayan Buddhism. Himalayan Buddhism is a term collectively used
to refer to Buddhist schools of Tibet, Bhutan & regions of Nepal. It also includes
those practiced in the Indian Himalayan regions of Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, Darjeeling, Sikkim & Arunachal Pradesh. The author here gives us
the brief account of the main sects of Buddhism spread around in the Himalayan
region namely Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, Geluk.
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(b) Chapter 2. This chapter deals with the frontiers on the mighty
Himalayas and the author explains the geopolitics of the Himalayan frontiers and
the importance they hold.
(c) Chapter 3. The chapter clearly explains the cunning British plan to gain
strategic and political control over India by demarcating Himalayan frontiers to
their fullest of the advantage. The plan was to dominate the Indian subcontinent
since the long played Great Game. It is the political & diplomatic confrontation
that existed for the most of the 19th century between British empire & the Russian
empire over the Central & South Asia.
(d) Chapter 4. In this chapter Peace in Himalayas the author tries to walk
through the efforts of the Buddhist schools to set things right in the regions of
Himalayan frontiers.
(e) Chapter 5. The chapter narrates the part where the same Buddhist
schools became the reason for the wrecking of the region.
(f) Chapter 6. The chapter is author’s insight over the Indian perspective of
the strategic and economical values that the Himalayan frontiers had & also how
this Great game affected it.
(g) Chapter 7. Author here discusses the improper & imperfect information
provided over the frontier issues & the political game that was played by China to
confuse India & Tibet.
(h) Chapter 8. The author dedicates this chapter to the Tawang, the
smallest district on Arunachal Pradesh but was the biggest point of debate &
interest during the Great Game. Tawang was historically part of Tibet but after
1914 Simla accord the British tried to annex it with the then British province –
India. This turned against this British dream when China disregarded the Simla
accord. Since British were unable to get China’s acceptance, Tibetans regarded
McMahon line invalid & continued to administer Tawang. The author quotes
many incidents in which British tried to take possession of Tawang. Even in
present days the district stand disputed as China claims it to be a part of Tibet
Autonomous Region.
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(j) Chapter 9. Karmapa (The honorific title His Holiness) is the head of the
Karma Kagyu, the largest sub-school of the Kagyu – one of the four major
schools of Himalayan Buddhism. This chapter deals with 17 th Karmapa & the
power struggle that arose between the sects. Author walks us through this
struggle by giving glimpses of some incident, one such is that when Dalai Lama
issued a order against facilitating the visit of rival karmapa, Trinley Thaye Dorje.
Things went sour when all the sects except Gelug sect ignored the Dalai Lama’s
directive & accorded a reception of the 17th Karmapa, Trinley Thaye Dorje.
(k) Chapter 10. The growing inter-Tibetan sectarian strife has become
another instability factor in the Buddhist Himalayas. As per the author there is a
strategic calculation involved in this. It is an old method of playing various
faultlines to keep the Tibetans divided, while at the same time furthering their
own key objectives. He has witnessed in Kazakhastan the Chinese managing to
break up over 2,50,000 people of the Uyghur diaspora into atleast 18 different
factons
(l) Chapter 11. Here the author inquires into the fact that how water decides
the fate on Indo-China border as the McMahon line is drawn on the watershed
principle. He also discusses about the Himalayan geopolitics in accordance with
the water.
(m) Chapter 12. In this chapter author exclaims regarding one of the biggest
blunders of India as he calls it. These are the pages in which he explains us how
Menser estate - an Indian estate at the foot hills of Mt Kailash & Darchen –
Labrang – an Bhutanese territory, whisvh served as a key outposts for Indian &
Bhutanese traders & pilgrims for 300 years was given away to China in the name
of Goodwill-gesture by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1953 as part of
his Panchsheel agreement.
(n) Chapter 13. This chapter deals with the Indian policy on Tibet. India
neither considered Tibet as an integral part of China but nor has it stressed to
obtain control over it. Author discusses regarding the shifting Indian Policy on
Tibet over the years.
(p) Chapter 14. This chapter deals with the India’s Himalayan frontiers and
how the Tibet issue has overshadowed the Himalayan entity, which has served
to further blur the Indian outlook. He also explains the need to stop China from
gaining primacy in Asian Buddhism.
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(q) Chapter 15. According to the author Buddhists in the Indian Himalayas
were always different from the Tibetans. The book cites the ‘Monyul’ or the land
of the ‘Mon’ people. Ethnic ‘Mons’ are scattered across the Indian Himalayas,
Bhutan, Tibet & Yunnan province of China. Author here explains the need for
rekindling of Indian Himalayan Buddhism which might be of great value during
the Re-incarnation of the next Dalai Lama considering the age of the present
Dalai Lama has crossed Eighty. He ends the chapter with a huge question the
‘Will the next anointed Lama be born in India or abroad?’
(r) Chapter 16. In the final chapter of the book the author recommends his
views on the new Tibet policy that could be adopted by India & also strongly
recommends some reforms to escalate Indian Buddhism in Himalayan frontiers.
Conclusion
6. The book is the comprehensive acct of the Himalayan frontiers with respect to
the religious & strategic importance. As we know it, the book is an exhaustively
researched history of the issue along with the ambassador’s inputs. The Great Game in
the Buddhist Himalayas includes several unknown insights into the disputed Indo-China,
Indo-Tibet & China-Tibet relationships. It reads like a geopolitical thriller, taking the
reader through the intricacies of reincarnation politics, competing spheres of sacred
influence & monastic & sectarian allegiances that will keep the Himalayas on edge for
years to come.
