06-25-2007, 02:29 AM
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--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> Tawang rebuffs China, says 'we are Indians'
25 Jun, 2007 l 0202 hrs ISTlKeshav Pradhan/TIMES NEWS NETWORK
TAWANG (ARUNACHAL PRADESH): India and China have been locked in endless border talks for 22 years and yet Chinese claims to Tawang have popped up repeatedly.
While Chinese officials recently refused visa to an Arunachal Pradesh official to reiterate Beijingâs claim, there have been reports of alleged incursions by the Peopleâs Liberation Army into the stateâs higher reaches. Even the Chinese ambassador to India, Sun Yuxi, has claimed that the whole of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to China.
Inside Tawang, however, such a debate appears irrelevant and unnecessary. The people of this picturesque north-western Arunachal Pradesh district regard themselves as "Indian" â in body and soul.
"Not a soul in Tawang will ever support China. We are an inalienable part of India and the Indian society," says Sangay Jampi, secretary of Tawangâs famed Galden Namgyal Lhatse monastery. "Neither Tibet nor Tawang ever belonged to China," the 35-year-old monk adds.
The 400-year-old shrine wields tremendous influence on the lives of the local people, who pay taxes for its upkeep.
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> Tawang rebuffs China, says 'we are Indians'25 Jun, 2007 l 0202 hrs ISTlKeshav Pradhan/TIMES NEWS NETWORK
TAWANG (ARUNACHAL PRADESH): India and China have been locked in endless border talks for 22 years and yet Chinese claims to Tawang have popped up repeatedly.
While Chinese officials recently refused visa to an Arunachal Pradesh official to reiterate Beijingâs claim, there have been reports of alleged incursions by the Peopleâs Liberation Army into the stateâs higher reaches. Even the Chinese ambassador to India, Sun Yuxi, has claimed that the whole of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to China.
Inside Tawang, however, such a debate appears irrelevant and unnecessary. The people of this picturesque north-western Arunachal Pradesh district regard themselves as "Indian" â in body and soul.
"Not a soul in Tawang will ever support China. We are an inalienable part of India and the Indian society," says Sangay Jampi, secretary of Tawangâs famed Galden Namgyal Lhatse monastery. "Neither Tibet nor Tawang ever belonged to China," the 35-year-old monk adds.
The 400-year-old shrine wields tremendous influence on the lives of the local people, who pay taxes for its upkeep.