Some choices on Tibet were right, says former NSA Menon

New Delhi, July 16

Former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, referring to India’s Tibet policy, said the Government of India had made its choices, and some were right. He was speaking at the release of Imperial Games in Tibet, authored by former ambassador Dilip Sinha. Menon added, “We have been crying over spilt milk. We have spent too much time on what we have done in the past.”

Commenting on the current geopolitical climate, Menon said, “Today we are back to the times of great power rivalry of the past.” On the changing situation in Tibet, he noted there are signs of transformation.

Regarding the “Resolve Tibet Act” passed by the US, Menon said it does not change things on the ground. He emphasised that the primary driver for the US is its rivalry with China.

Speaking about the book, Menon praised it as non-partisan and based on records, calling it an honest account. Sinha commented, “Our policy after independence was to speak against European imperialism. We were looking to partner in Asian resurgence and against colonialism; that is why we partnered with China.”

The book addresses complex geopolitical entanglements, charting history from the rise of Tibetan Buddhism, through the covert operations of the Great Game, to Tibet’s invasion and annexation by China in 1950. Sinha reveals the real factors leading up to the Dalai Lama’s escape to India in 1959.