Speaker: Professor Sangeeta Thapliyal, Centre for Inner Asian Studies,  School of International Studies, JNU

 

Chair: Shri Deb Mukharji

 

The Himalayan region, in the cusp of South Asia, Central Asia and China, has provided transit for cultures, trade and movement of people from India northwards to trans-Himalayas, Tibet, China, Central Asia and from their southwards to India. The diverse geographical terrain ranging from plateaus, high mountains, valleys and lower Himalayan ranges, represent diverse ecology, resources and societies. It is a cultural melange assimilating Hinduism and Buddhism along with indigenous cultures, languages, dialects, and ethnicity.From the 18th century emphasis was on strategic importance of the Himalayas with definitional shifts on frontiers and buffer to safeguard Indian subcontinent from onslaughts through north. 

 

The lecture would try to understand growing relations and competition between India and China and its influences in the Himalayan region. The conflictual border issue is being negotiated through the border talks. The bilateral economic relations are progressing but competition for the Himalayas exist. What kind of relations will emerge? How would competition and cooperation co-exist? How are the Himalayan countries, Nepal and Bhutan, re-evaluating their policies?