After the brief and bloody war with India ended in 1962, China segregated the Prisoners of War into Indians and Gorkhas. The 700 Gorkha soldiers were given better treatment as Beijing wanted to highlight that Chinese and Nepalis are ‘brothers.’ China even made a direct offer to Nepal to take back Gorkha POWs, an offer Kathmandu declined.
Cut to 2024, and it seems the message is finding some resonance with the Himalayan Nation. Even as the country, the birthplace of Buddha, remains out of bounds for its most famous disciple—the Dalai Lama—Nepal is preparing to welcome the 11th Panchen Lama, appointed by the Chinese government.
Not only is the Nepal government giving him a red-carpet welcome, but Kathmandu is also hosting the South China Sea Buddhism Roundtable Conference.
Amish Mulmi, the author of “All Roads Lead North: Nepal’s Turn to China” wrote: “Didn’t know our geography had changed overnight and Nepal was now a South China sea facing nation. Why else would we host a South China Sea Buddhism Roundtable Conference in Lumbini!”
Lumbini, located in southern Nepal, is the birthplace of the Buddha and one of the most venerated sites for Buddhists. The Dalai Lama lives just one hour’s flight away from Lumbini, but Nepal has not been keen to host the Tibetan leader for fear of angering China. For some time, Kathmandu tried to maintain its geopolitical neutrality as the two Asian giants jostled for influence in the region.
However, it is changing as Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli broke with tradition in his fourth term by heading to Beijing before New Delhi.
During his visit, Prime Minister Oli met Chinese President Xi Jinping. Nepal and China inked the much-awaited framework agreement on the multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), paving the way for enhanced economic cooperation on the projects.
This will be the first visit of the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama, and it will help him gain recognition among Buddhist followers worldwide. The South China Buddhism Round Table will be held from December 12 to December 15 and will include government officials and monks from around 20 countries.
The Nepal government has kept the arrival of the Chinese religious leader Panchen Lama a secret. “He is coming for religious harmony,” a local Nepali media quoted an official from the Lumbini Development Trust.
The Indian government will closely watch this move as the country hosts the largest population of Tibetan refugees.
According to the latest data from the government in exile, more than 128,000 Tibetans live outside of their homeland. Of those, 94,000 live in India, around three-quarters of the total. Another 10.6% live in Nepal, and the remaining have resettled in more than 30 countries worldwide.
The Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism. In 1995, the Dalai Lama recognized Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, a 6-year-old boy in Tibet, as the reincarnated Panchen Lama. But just three days later, Chinese authorities kidnapped the child and his parents. The Panchen Lama has not been seen in public ever since. His followers all over the world continue to demand his release from Chinese authorities.
The Chinese government instead named Gyaincain Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama. China has gradually exposed its Panchen Lama in public roles in the hope that it will achieve the respect commanded by the Dalai Lama among Tibetans and globally. He made his first trip outside mainland China in 2012 when he visited Hong Kong.
Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama’s upcoming visit to Nepal has created a furor amongst journalists and scholars in Nepal.
Mahesh Kushwaha questioned the Oli government’s move on X by asking: “What is the Oli government trying to do by welcoming Panchen Lama for a “South China Sea Buddhism Roundtable Conference” in Lumbini when Nepal cannot even muster the courage to host Dalai Lama?” He works with the Centre for Social Innovation and Foreign Policy.
Weaponizing Buddhism
Of all the South Asian countries, China’s military ties with Nepal have been among the weakest, owing to decades-old ties between Nepalese and Indian Armies.
Since 1950, both armies have conferred the honorary rank of General of their respective Armies on each other’s Chief of Staff. This bond is further reinforced by the substantial presence of approximately 36,000 Gorkha personnel within the Gorkha Regiments of the Indian Army. Also, a sizable population of about 140,000 retired Gorkha personnel from the Indian Army receive pensions totaling around US$600 million from India.
This has changed since 2022, as the Indian Army enacted a new recruitment scheme, and the Nepalese government forbade its citizens from joining the Indian Army.
This has prompted China to balance its military cooperation with soft diplomacy and Buddhism is an important part of that.
“One shouldn’t lose sight of the strategic dimension of Buddhism. China sees a great advantage in employing Buddhism alongside its hard power pursuits, especially to seek political and economic leverage. Cultural tools also seem embedded into China’s latest One Belt One Road initiative in Asia,” P. Stobdan, a former ambassador and a scholar of Asian affairs, wrote earlier.
The Dalai Lama has been in the eye of the storm between India and China as the 89-year-old spiritual leader, who leads Tibetan Buddhism, fled Tibet in 1959 following annexation by Beijing. He has been living in exile in India ever since.
Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of being a separatist. It asserts that the Communist Party China, itself an atheist organization, has the sole right to name the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama and has enshrined it into the country’s law.
The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan parliament in exile, with its seat in Dharamshala, have rejected the Chinese claim. Penpa Tsering, the president of the parliament-in-exile, has stated earlier: “A non-believer, atheist government like China interfering in Tibetan spiritual matters is a complete no-no. It cannot be accepted. The world has turned against China. We firmly believe no one will trust their choice.”
China hopes to repress the Tibetan separatist movement by controlling the religious leadership of Tibetan Buddhists. The Dalai Lama’s increasing age has further heightened tension over his successor. The Dalai Lama has insisted that speculations of his death are premature, as, according to his visions, he will live to 113.
A living god-like figure for millions of Buddhists, India officially calls him “the most esteemed and honored guest of India.” China accuses him of being a “wolf in monk’s robes,” engaged in “anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion to break Tibet away from China.”
Since 1974, the Dalai Lama has said he does not seek independence from China for Tibet but a “meaningful autonomy” that would allow Tibet to preserve its culture and heritage.
In 2011, in a move to democratize the system of government, the Dalai Lama gave up his political and administrative powers and chose to remain as just a spiritual leader. However, he is still the community’s most influential figure.
When the current Dalai Lama dies, Tibetans will be in a state of disarray.
Experts on the tensions between the two countries believe that when the 14th Dalai Lama dies, there will be two successors – one nominated by China and the other left behind by the Tibetan spiritual leader.
Beijing is making its move to fortify the reputation of its Panchen Lama till then to be able to control the Tibetans religiously.
