EVENTS

The Tawang region in Arunachal Pradesh has traditionally been known to draw its linkages from Tibet. Its ethnicity and religious practices are derived directly from Tibet. And until 1951, even the administration of the area was done through the ecclesiastical dispensation headed by the Dalai Lama who ruled Tibet. This is well known and documented. What has remained somewhat covered in a shroud in the history studies of the region are the linkages that Tawang has shared with Bhutan and how it forms a part of the larger Himalayan culture. For those who argue that the region known as Tawang Tract is disputed and that Tibet draws its claim to the region unambiguously, this study of Tawang’s historical linkages to Bhutan attempts to illustrate the cultural connections all along the Himalayas. Tibet had a huge impact on the shared cultures of the region but the issue of territorial rights in the modern sense does not draw directly from those linkages.

About the Speaker

Sonia Shukla is Associate Professor at OP Jindal Global University. She is working jointly on a book on the India-China border issues. As part of her book research, Sonia has lived in Arunachal Pradesh, close to the China border in the West Kameng and Tawang districts. She has also travelled across Arunachal for research and to gather oral history accounts. Specialising in international security issues, Sonia launched and edited a high-end strategic affairs magazine called, Defence and Security of India. Sonia has been an editor at The Indian Express, contributing regular articles on India’s fight against terrorism and the rise of fundamentalist forces in the region, India-Pakistan relations, Missile Defence, India’s relations with its other neighbours and the United States. Her writings and papers have also appeared in China Report, The Business Standard, Caravan and Hard News. As part of her work, Sonia travelled in China, Vietnam and Indonesia to study the impact of economic reforms in 2001. Sonia also worked at The Independent newspaper in London in May 2000 while she was a Chevening Scholar at the University of Westminster, London.

About the Chair

Vijay K Nambiar is an Honorary Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies. He had joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1967. He studied Chinese in Hong Kong, and served in China from 1970-72 and returned to South Block and Udyog Bhavan until 1976. He then served as First Secretary in Tito's Yugoslavia. He was posted from 1979 to 1982 in the Indian Mission at the United Nations (UN) in New York and served in Delhi during the 1983 NAM Summit and after. From 1985 to 1987, he was India's Ambassador in Algeria. He returned to Delhi as Joint Secretary East Asia in the MEA in 1987 and helped prepare for Rajiv Gandhi's historic visit to China in 1988. Subsequently, he served as India's Ambassador/ High Commissioner in Afghanistan (1990-1992), Malaysia (1993-1996), China (1996-2000), Pakistan (2000-2001) and Permanent Representative to the UN in New York (2002-2004). Post-retirement, he served as Deputy National Security Adviser of India (2004-2006). He was then deputed by the Government of India to serve in the United Nations Secretariat as Under Secretary-General, Special Adviser to Secretary-General Kofi Annan (2006-2007), then as Chef de Cabinet to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (2007-2012) and later as Adviser on Myanmar (2012-2016). Since returning to India in 2017, he has been living a retired life.

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