Claude Arpi

At the end of an informal meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier in May, the two leaders...

'It is a breathtaking journey towards the Tibet border, especially since the Border Road Organisation has accomplished a fabulous feat in black-topping the road till...

Observers could see that France was fascinated by China when President Xi Jinping of China paid a three-day visit to France; he was lavishly received...

Nepal’s flimsy claims on Kali River will not change ground realities, but India must be vigilant Kathmandu seems to have forgotten that the location of...

A few years ago, during a visit to Drukyul, the Land of the Dragon as Bhutan is locally known, I had the occasion to meet...

The Dalai Lama’s escape to Tawang in 1959 not only marked a significant turning point in India-China relations but also highlighted the enduring struggle for...

During the annual ‘Two Meetings’ in Beijing, it was announced that China’s defence budget for 2024 would be $231.36 billion, an increase of 7.2 per...

Western Tibet has a rich historical background, particularly in proximity to Mount Kailash, near the trijunction between India, Nepal and Tibet. It is the case...

We are entering the Year of the Dragon. It is said that the next 12 months will be energetic; the year may give rise to...

Through 'history warfare', Communist China will try to prove that it has always occupied the Tibetan plateau and that the border areas (whether Tibet or...

Nobody, not even the best soothsayers or experts, can explain why the world is suddenly changing so quickly, but remember the prophesy once sung by...

2023 has ended. It is time for reflection and resolutions: Time to take stock of the past 12 months and to look ahead to the...

Addressing the Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently remarked that Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, was responsible for the loss of what is...

US President Joe Biden greets China's President President Xi Jinping at the Filoli Estate in Woodside, California, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative...

French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau had once said: "Nothing is so gentle as man in his primitive state, when placed by nature at an equal distance...

New commanders may be inclined to please the Emperor in order to consolidate their position in the hierarchy and therefore take a more belligerent stance...

A recent visit in the forward areas of the Tawang sector opened my eyes wider. Though I have been studying different aspects of the 1962...

On the occasion of the Kargil Vijay Day, Claude Arpi's interview with Param Vir Chakra, Yogender Singh Yadav. Yogender Singh Yadav survived 15 bullets while...

This year, France and India are celebrating 25 years of their strategic partnership. The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the chief guest for...

The Hindu recently reported that new posts of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had sprung up some six-seven kilometres north of the Line of Actual...

After Xi Jinping was given a third five-year term as China’s president in March 2023, AP News commented that he was “on track to stay...

China has become a peacemaker, or at least would like to project itself as the world’s new ‘peacemaker’; we have seen it in the Middle...

A question has been going around in the strategic circles in the recent weeks: should India enter into a military alliance with the US and...

In the recent times, the Chinese social media has been agog with ‘tank dens’ being built by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Tibet; one...

‘Reincarnation’ is the fascinating topic for the media for several reasons, the main one being that it has a mystic aura, at a time when...

China has done it again. China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs has standardized the names of 11 places in Zangnan, a new name for Southern Tibet...

China is at it again: “Recognition of new Dalai Lama must be conducted in China”, asserted an article in The Global Times on February 22....

What is the length of India’s border with China? You may think that it is easy to answer this question, but unfortunately, it is not....

It is important to understand how the northern border of India has been delineated. From the end of the 19th century, the main factor for...

This is the second part of my interview with Pema Khandu, the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Indianness of Arunachal is not to be proven...

I still remember my first visit in 2002. There were hardly any roads outside Leh and the approach from Manali in Himachal Pradesh or Zoji-la...

For the Indian nation, the 1962 conflict with China is one of the most traumatic post-Independence Indian events; for those who fought, for their families...

In July 2017, a few weeks after the start of the confrontation in Doklam near the India-China-Bhutan trijunction, Lt Gen Zhang Xuejie, the then Political...

On September 30, Russia held four referenda with the objective of annexing Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine recently occupied by Moscow; it immediately...

On July 22, China Tibet Network posted an article announcing that the Chinese-selected Panchen Lama (Gyaltsen Norbu) visited a village on the Indian border: “Panchen:...

Do you believe in coincidences? Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama reached Ladakh on July 15. Two days later, the 16th round of Corps Commander-level...

June 15 is a special day in the Middle Kingdom; it is the birthday of the Secretary General of the Communist Party of China. In...

The 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will be held in Beijing in November this year. About 2,300 delegates, representing an estimated...

Can we today take Chinese propaganda seriously? I don't think so. Take the issue of democracy. On 9-10 December 2021, US President Joe Biden organised...

“Bangladesh Bangladesh, When the Sun Sinks in the West” my generation still remembers the crystal-clear voice of Joan Baez, the youth icon of the ‘flower...

Rarely the birth of a new country became an event observed by the entire planet; it has happened for Bangladesh. Soon after the Pakistani army...

The first part of my interview with Pema Khandu, the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh 'We are well prepared for any eventualities'. In April 2011,...

On 50th anniversary of the liberation of Bangladesh, we need to recall one of the best-kept secrets of the war: The role played by the...

Have you heard of the “Hidden Land of Pemako”? It is the area where China is planning to build mega hydropower stations in the Great...

China always speaks of the 1962 War against India as a ‘Self-Defence Counter-Attack’. In this context, the setting up of the Z-419 Force was a...

India has to fight her own battles alone, and should not expect any ‘friend’ to come to her rescue, especially when facing China Nothing new...

Why are Members of the politburo of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) Central Committee so attracted by Tibet these days? During the last two...

On June 8, China’s Core Leader Xi Jinping visited Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province. Meeting a group of Tibetan villagers relocated in one...

The event which has most marked the Indian psyche since Independence is undoubtedly the Sino-Indian conflict of October/November 1962. The best proof is that even...

What is the Liberation of Tibet? China wants us to believe that it liberated Tibet 70 years ago. It did not really happen like this....