By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Jan. 29: The Indian army is reportedly setting a proposal for its offices to study Tibetology amid the deployment of military forces and fire power to the borders with China, reported Times of India on Thursday. The course will teach Tibetan history, culture and language on “both sides” of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to “counter the propaganda and spread of influence by China.”
The Tibetology proposal was first initiated in the Army commanders’ conference in October, and is now being further analysed by Shimla-based Army Training Command (ARTRAC) on the directions of General Manoj M. Naravane. ARTRAC identified seven institutes that offer post-graduate Tibetology courses, namely Department of Buddhist Studies in Delhi University, Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies in Varanasi, Nava Nalanda Mahavira in Bihar, Visva Bharati in West Bengal, Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Education in Bengaluru, Namgyal Institute of Tibetology in Gangtok and Central Institute of Himalayan Culture Studies in Arunachal Pradesh.
The officers can take “study leave” and are recommended to be sent to these institutes for “small capsules” on Tibetology. A source from the army said, “Army officers are generally well-versed with Pakistan. But a similar expertise on China and the Chinese psyche is lacking. Officers who really understand China are few in numbers. Tibetology fares even worse. These deficiencies need to be plugged.”
“Just a two-year course in Mandarin will not make an officer a China expert,” he further added. The report stated that the army needs to build expertise on both China and Tibet in terms of “linguistic, cultural and behaviour patterns.” This will require “language and sector specifications” with officers being posted for longer tenures along the LAC instead of western front with Pakistan.
