India accepted Tibet as part of China in ’54 for stability: CDS

Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Friday said India recognised Tibet as part of China in 1954 when it signed the Panchsheel ‘Agreement which was aimed at maintaining stability and fostering a cooperative relationship between the two nations.

- Agencies

“Independent India was keen to build a good relationship with China... In 1954, India recognised Tibet as part of China. Both countries signed the Panchsheel Agreement,” he said.

The CDS was delivering the keynote address at the Bharat Himalayan Strategy Forum at Lok Bhavan in Dehradun focusing on the concepts of frontiers, borders, and the historical connectivity of the “Middle Sector”.

“On independence, the British left, and it was for India actually to decide where a front is. Nehru probably knew that we had something, as the McMahon Line in the east, and we had some kind of a claim in the Ladakh area, but it was not here. So that’s why he wanted to go in for a Panchsheel agreement, probably,” the CDS said.