There have been at least 15 aftershocks of 4.5 magnitude and higher in Nepal thereafter.
The death toll in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region due to Saturday's earthquake and its aftershocks, climbed to 25 on Tuesday, even as rescuers continued to reach out to the affected people in the remotest of areas.
China will step up its control on the management of the numerous Buddhist monasteries in Tibet and its prefectures in the wake of recurring self-immolations by monks, which it alleges are instigated by the Dalai Lama. Senior officials of Tibet Autonomous Region have pledged stepped-up efforts to strengthen the management of monasteries in the fight against the Dalai Lama group, official new agency Xinhua reported.
Short messaging services in Tibet has received a significant boost with China launching Tibetan language interface for the first time for mobile phone subscribers in the remote Himalayan region.
Against the backdrop of a series of self-immolations in Tibetan-inhabited areas, China on Friday accused the Dalai Lama of plotting the 'murders' to achieve 'ulterior' political goals.
China has approved the construction of the world's largest dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, close to the Indian border. The USD 137 billion project, which is expected to dwarf even China's own Three Gorges Dam, has raised concerns in India and Bangladesh, the downstream riparian states. Concerns in India are centered around China's potential to control water flow, potentially enabling the release of large amounts of water to flood border areas in times of hostilities. The dam is part of China's 14th Five-Year Plan, and the Chinese government claims that the project is safe and prioritizes ecological protection.
The Tibetan government-in-exile and China are continuing to hold back-channel talks and the last round took place this month, just days before US President Joe Biden signed a legislation that seeks to press Beijing for a negotiated settlement to Tibet's demands for greater autonomy.
A preliminary survey has found that Sengge Zangbo town in Ngari Prefecture, western Tibet, may be an ideal place to launch the world's largest and most advanced telescope with a calibre up to 100 meters.
With China rapidly modernizing its military, India needs to be wary of likely implications, which will impact the nation's security, Army chief Deepak Kapoor warned on Thursday.
While Tibetans outside the TAR continue to defy the Chinese authorities, Tibetans of TAR, who were subjected to brutal suppression after the violent incidents of 2008, have continued to remain subdued, says B Raman
China on Tuesday said that the Dalai Lama can improve ties with it only by giving up wish for Tibetan independence and publicly announcing that Tibet is an inalienable part of the country.
Wang Yang and Xi Jinping's visits signal the beginning of a major Chinese push to bring about a transformation of Tibet, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer.
An article in The New York Times recently speculated that Beijing would try to legitimise its hand-selected (and therefore illegitimate) Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu, by sending him to study in the Labrang Monastery in Xiahe at the somewhat advanced age of 21.
The ambassador has emphasised that no misunderstandings must crop up between India, China.
Samdong Rimpoche's visit to China materialised against the backdrop of strained India-China relations consequent to the face-off between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam, says former RAW officer Jayadeva Ranade.
Actual trading between India and China through Nathu-La has resumed after a gap of 44 years with traders from both the countries visiting the marts on either side of the border and transacting business worth Rs 70,000.
"We have received information that after the Olympics 1 million Chinese are going to settle in the autonomous region of Tibet," the Dalai Lama said in an interview published in the Guardian on Saturday. He said: "There is every danger of Tibet becoming a truly Han Chinese land and Tibetans becoming an insignificant minority. Then the very basis of the idea of autonomy becomes meaningless."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was taking action against an unspecified number of Chinese officials, including from the ruling Communist Party, under a US law that calls on China to let Americans visit Tibet.
Was Wang Yi'S visit intended to remind India of 1962, asks Claude Arpi?
It is not clear yet what impact the blockade of the river will have on the flow of water from the Brahmaputra into the lower riparian countries like India and Bangladesh as a result.
Two super high altitude firing ranges were made available to the armed forces for the practice of various kinds of weapons and surveillance equipment in Arunachal Pradesh within an aerial distance of 50 kilometres from the highly sensitive Line of Actual Control, sources said.
China is acutely conscious of the need for the next Dalai Lama to be under its control. It was for this reason that China recently stressed their claim on Arunachal Pradesh. There were rumours that the next Dalai Lama may be found in Tawang. If that happens, India-China relations will become tense and there may be demands for the child to be handed over to the Chinese, points out Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
A village built by China along the Line of Actual Control in the Arunachal Pradesh sector and mentioned in a recent Pentagon report, is in territory controlled by that country, sources in the security establishment in New Delhi said on Tuesday.
A visit to Tibet appears to have become the new touchstone for expressing fealty to Xi Jinping, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and distinguished China expert.
The 7.9 Richter Scale temblor that struck Nepal on Saturday also affected parts of Tibet. The two border ports to Nepal were seriously affected.
Indian Armed forces will leave no stone unturned to safeguard the country's frontiers, he insisted.
Taking serious note of protests by Tibetans in India during the visit of President Hu Jintao, China on Thursday said Tibet was an "integral part" of its territory and the region's affairs were an "internal matter".
India was fooled into believing that Communist China wanted a 'negotiated' settlement with the Tibetans; it was never the case, says Claude Arpi.
The seventh Tibet Work Forum was held in Beijing on August 28 and 29. Delhi should be deeply concerned, at a time India faces a precarious situation in Ladakh, because the TWF also defines China's western border policies, observes Claude Arpi.
'The PLA has continued to do exercises and drills and recently carried out air exercises with fighter jets.'
Gen Wang is the fourth commander to head the Western Theatre Command after the eastern Ladakh standoff began in May last year.
China is worried about the situation post the Dalai Lama and that his reincarnation could surface in Arunchal Pradesh, a region it claims as its own, but which is part of the Indian Republic, says former RA&W Additional Secretary Jayadeva Ranade.
The brigade that conducted the drills was from the PLA's Tibet Military Command and is one of China's two plateau mountain brigades.
The Tibetan nation still lives under the yoke of the Chinese Communist Party, and Beijing today has a guilty conscience; this creates a great uneasiness for Xi Jinping and his colleagues observes Claude Arpi.
The earthquake damaged houses, roads, as well as other infrastructures, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted eyewitnesses from the area as saying.
He said China's "growing imprint" will surely increase contestation and competition in the economic domain and it will attempt to keep India engaged on issues relating to the unsettled borders.
'Chinese soldiers don't have much experience of fighting in these kinds of areas and operating in this kind of terrain'
The Sichuan-Tibet Railway will be the second railway line into Tibet after the Qinghai-Tibet Railway project. It will go through the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, one of the world's most geologically active areas, according to the Chinese official media.
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