EVENTS

The Dalai Lama’s legacy in exile is deeply intertwined with India’s modern history. Yet, recent commentary on his succession reduced his statements on reincarnation to a mere gambit in the geo-political chessboard of Sino-India relations. This seminar attempts to reframe the discussion to centre the Himalayan regions of India and their historical and contemporary relations with the Tibetan people. It argues that while it is well – and rightly - established that no country has done more for the Dalai Lama and Tibetans in exile than India, it is equally true, but less often acknowledged that no country has been influenced as profoundly by the moral presence and public service of its guests as India has been by the Tibetans who followed the Dalai Lama into exile.

Speaker

Swati Chawla is Associate Professor of History and Digital Humanities and Director of the Post Graduate Diploma in Research and Innovation at the Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, O.P. Jindal Global University. She also serves as Senior Fellow for Dalai Lama and Nalanda Studies with the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and as Assistant Director at the Centre for Learning and Innovative Pedagogies and the Motwani Jadeja Institute for American Studies at O.P. Jindal University.

Chair

Gokul K.S. is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at Amity University, Noida, where he teaches Foreign Policy Analysis, Political Ideas & International Relations, and Diplomacy & International Affairs. He holds a PhD from IIT Madras, with his doctoral research focused on “Visual Narratives of Resistance and Liminality in Tibetan Exile Cinema.” His core research interest lies in employing visual narratives – particularly films and documentaries – as critical lenses to understand and interpret political issues and events. Gokul is also the co-founder of Tibetscapes, a research collective at IIT Madras, focusing on Tibet, Himalayas and borders.

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