The day long conference commenced with a welcome by Prof. Mohan Guruswamy, Chairman, Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA). Dr. Reena Marwah, Secretary General, Association of Asia Scholars (AAS) introduced the theme of the conference. She said that the aim of the Seminar was to undertake a review of Tibetan studies in India as well as in other such societies and regions. It was in that direction that AAS organized the Seminar, which was followed by a visit to Dharamshala by the conference delegates, to explore what could be done to strengthen Tibetan studies in India and how these can be facilitated by exploring cooperation with other interested institutions across Asia.

While delivering a keynote address on Tibet: A Historical Perspective, Prof. Claude Arpi said, Tibetan history and culture represents one of the unique heritages of mankind, given its close connection with Indian civilization and traditions of intellectual discourse. The "Tibet Studies" have accordingly had a widespread and deep-rooted tradition amongst India's academic institutions. However, several of these institutions are not very visible and sometimes not even very active in pursuit of their objectives. To some extent, the same has also been true of several other societies that have hosted and sustained similar academic pursuits and traditions. Given India's rise as a major player in international affairs, it becomes important that our academic understanding of issues and ideas is allowed and encouraged to flourish in an open ambience. India also needs to underline now the need for cooperation and coordination with other countries to evolve a network of academic research where Tibetan studies do represent both an opportunity as well as major challenge.               

Session I Tibetology in Contemporary Times

Chair: Chih-yu Shih

Discussant: E. Sridharan.

In this session, there were three presentations. Colin Mackerras, Professor Emeritus in the School of International Business and Asian Studies, Griffith University, Australia presented his paper on Tibet Studies in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. While drawing some characteristics of the Tibet Studies in the regions and countries specified, he said that the spectrum of Tibet Studies in the places considered is fairly wide and, though not comparable with several other countries including United States and India, the value is quite high in terms of quantity and quality. A reasonably new trend is being witnessed, that is, a body of scholars from China teaching in the regions and countries specified and who do not support Tibetan independence, now also remain critical of Chinese government positions. He underlined that the study of Tibet is a major way of promoting knowledge and understanding about Tibet, and ignorance is itself the most important source of prejudice.

The next paper was presented by Du Yongbin on Evolution of Tibetology in China. Highlighting that China is the hometown of Tibetans and cradle of Tibetology, he said Tibetan Studies in China has made a great progress since the 1980s due to the efforts of the scholars of China. In order to have a better understanding of Tibetan Studies itself and Chinese perceptions of Tibet, there is a need to understand the current situation, the styles and characteristics, and the dynamics of Tibetan studies in contemporary China.

The last paper of this Session was presented by Simon Teng-chi Chang on Tibet, Changing Perspectives?-A Theoretical Reflection on Major Powers' Views on Tibet since the1900s. He said that the disputes over the status of Tibet and its relations with China have been passionately debated from legal, historical, political and even environmental grounds since its takeover by the PRC in 1951. However, there could be a breakthrough of the impasse should both Beijing and Dharamsala are able to draw lessons from their shared, rich history transcending the hypocrisy of "sovereignty".

Session II Comparative Epistemology of Tibetan Studies

Chair : Colin Mackerras

Discussants : Sangeeta Thapliyal and Bali Ram Deepak

Presentations in this session were made by Sharad K. Soni and Reena Marwah on the theme Tibet Factor in India-China Relations: Some reflections. They not only drew attention to the evolution of Tibetology in India but also highlighted both the Indian perspectives as well as Chinese perceptions on Tibet as a factor in India-China relations. They stressed on the need of a comprehensive research on Tibet, including its culture, history and religion so as to gauge the extent of its influence on India-China relations. However, in the current scenario India's attitude towards Tibet is significantly determined by the dynamics of its relations with China.

This was followed by a paper presentation by Tsung Han Wu on Comparative Epistemology of Tibetan Studies, particularly Indian Tibetan Studies and Australian Studies. He made comparative analysis of Indian Tibetan Studies and Australian Studies on the basis of his research he has been involved in for quite some times now.

Prof. Shih initiated a discussion on Lessons of Taiwan for the Tibet Question, by Yan Sun Professor of Political Science, City University of New York, Queens College and the Graduate Centre. As emphasized by Yan Sun, the discussion centered around four dimensions of comparative dynamics between the two cases of Taiwan and Tibetan government-in-exile (TGIE) in relation to China: territorial, economic, ethnic and cultural. Of the four, Taiwan has low divergence with China on economic, ethnic and cultural dimensions, and managed contention on the territorial dimension. The TGIE, on the other hand, has high divergence with China on all dimensions: territorial dispute, economic incongruence, ethnic estrangement, and cultural gulf. The TGIE is ideologically and sentimentally charged by this divergence and thrives by exploiting it, and therefore, it should have few incentives to see the lessons of Taiwan applied. in resolving the Tibet Question.

In his Closing Remarks and Summing up Prof. Chih-yu Shih said that the working objective of the Seminar had been to contribute to the well-researched and discussed papers for the renowned international journal of Asian Ethnicity. The special issue will provide a scholarly review of current art of Tibetan studies in the world. The reason for the journal to publish such a special issue is not only the recognition of the importance of the Tibet issue but at the same time the difficulty to analyze the issue without too much political implication. To provide useful service to the scholars of Tibet in the world, the journal believes that the most effective and neutral way is to present what has been written about on the issue so that scholars as well as experts specialized or even just interested in the subject could have a sound and comprehensive base of knowledge to proceed with their own research.

The conference concluded with a Vote of thanks by Dr Smruti Pattanaik, Member, AAS.

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