A tourist from West Bengal was apprehended in Arunachal Pradesh for allegedly stealing religious items from the Tawang Monastery and Giant Buddha Statue Park. The stolen items were recovered, and the tourist was released with a warning.
Major Khathing was the first man to hoist the Indian flag in Tawang. He also brought Bum La under Indian control.
The Tibetan leader was to reach Tawang by chopper on April 4 but due to bad weather, he travel over 550 km by road from Guwahati to reach Tawang.
As China ramps up its objection to the Dalai Lama's upcoming visit to the Tawang monastery, Ranjita Biswas is moved to nostalgia.
Braving the winter chill, thousands of Tibetans and locals lined up along the roads leading to the Tawang monastery on Sunday and gave a rousing reception to the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who arrived in town on a four-day visit.
A grand public reception awaits Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in the bordering hill town of Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, which is located at 10,000 feet from the mean sea level, with the entire town as well the 400-year-old Tawang Monastery wearing a festive look.
On August 5, 1953, Jawaharlal Nehru sent a strange note to the foreign secretary. It is worth mentioning because it was symptomatic of the lack of knowledge about Western Tibet in India and in South Block in particular, notes Claude Arpi.
Tawang wears its history -- and also its present -- with ease. The flourishing town, with restaurants selling everything from noodles to dosas and locals returning home to new business prospects, shows little sign of the tension building up at the border about 40 km away to the north.
The Battle of Lhagyala on November 23, 1962, fought by the 4 Rajput Regiment against the Chinese PLA, remains a forgotten chapter of heroism, with no survivors left to tell their story.
'The greatness of India can be experienced by meeting Indians on the frontiers of India.' 'Every citizen on the border is a soldier'
One can only sincerely wish the Dalai Lama a very long life at the service of world peace. His presence is much required today on the planet, notes Claude Arpi, who has known His Holiness for more than half a century.
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After his arrival by a helicopter from Guwahati, the 74-year-old Dalai Lama, accompanied by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Kandu, was welcomed by cheering Tibetans as he drove along the 10-km stretch from the helipad to the 400-year-old Tawang monastery.
Rediff.com's Uttam Ghosh visited Arunachal Pradesh, Shillong and Assam and returned with these memories
China on Tuesday unleashed a fresh attack on Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama and needled India over his forthcoming visit to Arunachal Pradesh, saying it was a 'separatist' action and an anti-China move. "We have expressed our grave concerns. We believe that this once again exposes the nature of the Dalai Lama as anti-China," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in Beijing. "We firmly oppose the visits of the Dalai Lama to the border regions," he said.
Despite objections from China, New Delhi has cleared Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama's week-long visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which will take him to the 300-year-old Tawang monastery among other places, from November 8.
The Tibetan spiritual leader said he was surprised and saddened by China's criticism of his visit to Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh.
Beijing is clearly rattled by the Dalai Lama's visit. Unlike the 2009 visit, which was a four-day religious tour, the current visit is a high-decibel, 10-day affair, without the fig leaf of a "religious event", reports Ajai Shukla.
'The Kuki-Zo are aware of this rich resource in their areas and feel the Meitei push for ST status is because of this reason'.
The recent reports of incursions and firing along the India-China border has not deterred spirited tourists who have begun thronging the Buddhist monastry town of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, over which China stakes claim.
Tawang is very much a part of India, and if the present Dalai Lama decides one day to take rebirth in Tawang, the Indian government will openly welcome him and support him, notes Claude Arpi.
China may reacted angrily about his visit to Arunachal Pradesh, but the Tibetan spiritual leader has never been one to stand down. Despite Beijing's loud protests, backed by New Delhi, His Holiness has traveled to the border state seven times since he sought refuge from Chinese aggression in India in 1959.
The resolution condemns additional Chinese provocations, including China's use of military force to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control, construction of villages in contested areas, publication of maps with Mandarin-language names for cities and features in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, and expansion of Beijing's territorial claims in Bhutan.
The spiritual leader on Saturday addressed devotees speaking to them about the pratices of Boddhisattavas at the Yid GaChosin monastery in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.
It is on the exact spot where the Guru is said to have created 108 waterfalls, that the Yangtse clash took place between the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA on the night of December 9, 2022. As it had done in Ladakh in May 2020, the PLA tried to change the unmarked LAC in the Yangtse sector in Arunachal Pradesh. It was the most serious border incident since the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, notes Claude Arpi.
You wouldn't want to miss these unexplored, mesmerising snow hamlets in India.
The Dalai Lama will be in the north eastern state from April 4 to 13 and Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju.
'The numbers of troops on both sides are enormous.' 'They are about 50,000-60,000 soldiers facing each other in that sector -- that's about the total number of troops that both sides had in the 1962 War in all sectors.'
Claude Arpi's fascinating account of the Dalai Lama's arrival in Tawang in March 1959.
Claude Arpi gives a fascinating firsthand account of the Dalai Lama's arrival in Tawang in March 1959 and explains why he will once again receive a grand welcome, whether Beijing likes it or not.
A journey towards the picturesque Tawang through pristine hills of Arunachal Pradesh can't be complete without a stopover at Jaswantgarh Memorial that stands testimony to an Indian soldier's unparallel bravery.
Monks fiddling with computers, using cell phones and zipping around on bikes, may appear a bit out of place, but it is a common sight at the ancient Buddhist monastery at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. "There can be no conflict between modernity and spirituality once control is established over desire," senior monks in the 328-year-old monastery told a visiting PTI correspondent.
'Our love for our great nation -- Bharat is second to none and our patriotism towards our motherland -- India is for the entire nation to emulate.'
"India has never used me against China. I am a messenger of the ancient Indian thought and I talk about ahimsa, peace, harmony and secular ethics wherever I go," the Tibetan spiritual leader said while talking to the media.
The Tibetan spiritual leader arrived by road as his chopper could not take off from Guwahati due to inclement weather.
Rebuffing China's claim on Arunachal Pradesh, India on Sunday asserted that the north eastern state is its integral part and ruled out ceding any of its part.
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'We must understand that the LAC is a political issue for China, so any action on the LAC will keep India focussed on the LAC which gives China the opportunity for any adventurism in the Indian Ocean.'
India's beloved President -- there has been no other who has influenced the nation as much -- never stepped back from inspiring people to be the very best that they could be.
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