CHINA'S ETHNIC MINORITY POLICIES IN TIBET AND IMPLICATIONS TO INDIA

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China’s ethnic minority postures mainly exhibited national integration or assimilationist policies in the past seven decades. However, while many of these policies were inherited from the then Soviet Union with modifications to the Chinese reality, there is a subtle change in recent times. Specifically, since Xi Jinping took over as China’s leader since 2012, the larger China Dream and China Rejuvenation projects have overshadowed ethnic minority policies including on Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. On August 29, 2020 for instance, the China’s apex Tibet Forum Meeting decided to further «sinicize» Tibet and Buddhism into China’s fold. It is argued here that China is in the process of revising its national ethnic minority policies inherited from the Soviet Union and attempting at centralisation to bring the ethnic minority regions under the effective control of the party-state ideology. As a result, ethnic minorities in China, specifically Tibetans, Uighurs and Mongols have expressed dissent over the loss of autonomy. These are impacting on the neighbouring countries in Central Asia and South Asia, including on India. This has implications for the trans-Himalayan region’s stability, migration patterns, territorial dispute and environmental (specifically water) issues for India and others. The purpose of this article is to analyze the changes in China's policy towards ethnic minorities over the past seventy years, with a particular focus on the impact of political projects such as the «Chinese Dream» and «China Rejuvenation» on the situation of ethnic minorities, including Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongols. The main focus is on the consequences of these changes for regional stability and interstate relations. The study relies on documentary sources: examining historical archives, official documents and statements of the Chinese government to identify changes in policy towards ethnic minorities. It concludes that the «Chinese Dream» and «China Rejuvenation» projects have come to dominate state policy and have created pressure on ethnic groups seeking to preserve their identity and autonomy.