Conference Speakers

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THUBTEN SAMPHEL

Mr. Thubten Samphel is the executive director of the Tibet Policy Institute, a research centre of the Central Tibetan Administration.

He was the secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations from 1999-2012 and also served as the spokesperson for the Central

Tibetan Administration. He completed his high school from Dr. Graham’s Home, Kalimpong. He studied B.A and M.A in History from St. Stephen College, Delhi University. He was among the first group of Tibetan Fulbright Scholars to study in the United States and earned a degree in Journalism from Columbia University, New York.

He was a member of the last fact-finding mission to visit in Tibet in 1985.

He has written extensively on Tibet in Indian and international newspapers and journals.

He is the author of ‘Falling Through the Roof’, a work of fiction and co-author of the Dalai Lamas of Tibet.

CLAUDE ARPI

He is born in 1949 in Angoulême, France. For the past 42 years he is settled in South India.

He is the author of The Fate of Tibet (Har-Anand Publications, 1999), Tibet, le pays sacrifié (Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 2000), And Dark Shall be the Night: The Karma of Tibet (Editions Auroville Press International, 2001), Born in Sin: the Panchsheel Agreement (Mittal Publications, New Delhi, 2004); and Glimpse of Tibetan History (Tibet Museum, Dharamsala, 2013).

He has been regularly writing on Tibet, China, India, border and military issues and Indo-French relations for Rediff.com, DNA, The Pioneer, The Statesman, Asian Age, Geopolitics, Mail Today, The Diplomatist, etc.

His website carries the largest numbers of historical documents on subjects such as the Indo-China relations, the flight of the Dalai Lama in 1959 and the consequences for India, the 1962 Sino-Indian War, etc.

http://www.claudearpi.net/index.php?nav=documents&lang=1

His blog is also very popular for those interested in defence and international relations issues, particularly on Tibet and China.

http://claudearpi.blogspot.in/

He presently holds the Field Marshal KM Cariappa Chair of Excellence from the United Service Institution of India (USI) for his research the Indian Presence in Tibet 1947-1962 (in 4 volumes).

He has extensively worked in the National Archives of India and well in the Nehru Library (Nehru Papers) on the Indian frontiers and particularly the Indian Frontier Administrative Service.

TASHI TSERING

Tashi Tsering was born in 1960. He is a founding director of the Amnye Machen Institut. He is also affiliated with the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, and editor of several Tibetan journals, including the Journal of Tibet.

Tashi Tsering studied at the Central School for Tibetans Dalhousie in northern India from 1963 to 1971. He studied the history of Tibet, Tibetan literature and Buddhism with Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche, Dzogchen Khenpo Thubten Phuntsok Rinpoche and Rai Bahadur Burmiok Athing.

He also received teachings from the 14th Dalai Lama and other important teachers such as the 16th Karmapa, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, the 4th Dodrupchen Rinpoche, the 4th Garje Khamtrul Rinpoche and Khunu Geshe Rigzin Tempa.

He was appointed consultant to the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology by its director, Tashi Densapa.

In 1979, along with the filmmaker Tenzing Sonam, late writer, K. Dhondup, Thupten Samphel, Kesang Tenzin and Gyalpo Tsering, he founded the pioneering English-language Tibetan poetry journal, Lotus Fields.

In the documentary Angry Monk, reflections on Tibet (2005) about Gendun Chophel directed by Luc Schaedler, he is interviewed as an expert.

He compiled the longest calligraphy of Tibetan prayers, conducted by the calligrapher Jamyang Dorjee Chakrishar.

He received several awards from the Tibetan community.

Dr. DORJEE RABTEN NESHAR

Dr. Dorjee Rapten Neshar is born in Kyidong, Central part of Tibet in 1964.

He joined Tibetan Medical College based in Dharamsala in 1981 much in keeping with his family tradition. In March 1987, he completed his 5 years of intensive studies on Tibetan Medical System (TMS) with outstanding results under the highly renowned Master Physician late Mr. Barshi Phuntsok Wangyal.

In 1988, he took charge of the Tibetan Medical & Research Centre in Bylakuppe, South Tibetan Settlement where he also began his first stint into the clinical research funded by the late Mr. Peter Summer from England.

Dr. Dorjee was then appointed as the chief medical officer in charge & the senior consulting physician of the Bangalore Branch Medical Centre. The hospital was inaugurated by His Holiness The Dalai Lama himself in December 1997.

With over 18 years of dedicated service in the practice of Tibetan Medicine, he has attended many National & International Conferences; presented many papers on Tibetan Medicine & has number of published articles to his credit. Tibetan Medical Institute (Mentsee-Khang) in 1992 has published his first book in Tibetan on “Comparative study on HIV/AIDS in the context of Tibetan Medical System”. Dr. Dorjee also helped revising Mentsee-Khang’s publication of the 2nd edition of “Fundamentals of Tibetan Medicine” in 1997. And he is also a member of the peer review committee for the ongoing translation of “Four Great Tantra” the most authoritative & classical text on Tibetan Medicine. Dr. Dorjee travels worldwide in giving talks & consultation on Tibetan Medicine.

Dr. YESHI CHOEDON

Professor Yeshi Choedon has been a faculty member of the Centre since 2004. Her Ph.D. thesis was on “China, the United Nations and Major Conflict Situations in Asia”. From October 1988 to March 2004, she worked as Lecturer and later as Reader in Political Science and International Relations at the Sikkim Government College, Gangtok. She was awarded the UGC Career Award from 1995 to 1998 and was a DAAD Fellow at Free University, Berlin in 1997. As an awardee of Nehru-Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship, she was affiliated with University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA, for eight months from August 2010 to April 2011. She presented a paper at the World Congress on Human Rights, New Delhi in December 1990 and also presented a paper at the XVIth World Congress of International Political Science Association in 1994. She attended several times the international seminars on Tibetan Studies organized by International Association of Tibetan Studies and Annual Conventions organized by International Studies Association. Professor Choedon has attended and participated in numerous other seminars, conferences and workshops in India and abroad. She also attended the advance training and dialogue programme on ‘Managing Global Governance’ at German Development Institute, Bonn from 01June 2008 to 13 September, 28 September to 21 December 2008; attended the Training Programme on ‘International Future’ at Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, Berlin from 15 to 26 September 2008.

Professor Choedon’s research interests are in the field of peace, security, democratization and human rights. She teaches M.Phil. Course on “United Nations and Global Problems”, “Theoretical Issues in International Organization” and “India and International Organizations”. At the M.A. level, she teaches “International Organization”. She visited the UN Headquarters in New York for fieldwork for her Ph.D. thesis in 1986 and for a research project on UN peacekeeping operation in 2012. She also visited Washington DC in 1998 for fieldwork for the research project on “US-China Relations: Human Rights Dimension”. She also visited Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, for field work for a research project on “The United Nations Peace-Building in Kosovo: An Analysis of Coordination Issue” in 2008.

Publications:

(a) Books

  1. China and the United Nations (New Delhi: South Asian Publishers, 1999).
  2. [Co-author with Dawa Norbu] Tibet (New Delhi: Roli Books, 1997).
  3. Politics of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Resource Mobilisation and Alternative Arrangements (New Delhi: KW Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 2015)

(b) Chapters in Edited Books

  1. “India and China on United Nations Peacekeeping: A Comparative Analysis”, in Sudhir Kumar Singh, ed., Sino-Indian Relations: Challenges and Opportunities for 21st Century (New Delhi: Pentagon), 2011.
  2. “State, Non-Governmental Organizations and Refugees: A Study of their Interface with regard to Education of Tibetan Refugee Children”, in Saadet Asian and Peter Schweiger ed., Tibetan Studies: An Anthology, (Konigswinter: International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies), 2010.
  3. “India’s Role in the UN Peacekeeping Operations: An Analysis of the Rationale of Participations”, in Ankush B, Sawant ed., Sixty Years of India’ Contribution to the United Nations, (Delhi: Authorpress), 2010.
  4. “Democratization Aspect of the Peace Building in Afghanistan: The Role of United Nations”, in Nalini Kant Jha ed., Democracy, Nation Building and Peace in South Asia: Challenges and Prospects (Delhi: Har-Anand Publications), 2009.
  5. “Mainstreaming the Gender in Democratization of Afghanistan: The Role of United Nations”, in Mondira Dutta ed., Emerging Afghanistan in the Third Millennium, (Delhi: Pentagon Press), 2009.
  6. “Role of India and Australia in the UN Peacekeeping Operations: Convergences and Divergences”, in D. Gopal (ed.), India-Australia Relations: Convergences and Divergences (Delhi: Shirpa), 2008 .
  7. “United Nations Peace Activities” (lesson for Senior Secondary course in Political Science in the Module on World Order and the United Nations for National Institute of Open Schooling, New Delhi, 2005).
  8. “Issues of Tibetan Nationalism and National Identify” in Henk Blezer, (ed.), Tibet: Past and Present (Leiden: Brill), 2002.
  9. “Politics and Diplomacy in the UN” in G.P. Deshpande and Alka Acharya, (ed.), 50 Years of India and China (New Delhi: Tulika), 2001.
  10. “Impact of Modernization on Society and Culture of Sikkim” in K. Warikoo, (ed.), Society and Culture in the Himalayas (Delhi: Har-anand Publishers), 1995.
  11. “The Rights of Minorities” in K.P. Saksena, (ed.), Human Rights Perspective and Challenges (New Delhi: Lancers Books), 1994.
  12. “Chinese National Minorities Policy: Special Reference to Tibet” in K. Warikoo and Dawa Norbu, (eds.), Ethnicity and Politics in Central Asia (Delhi: South Asian Publishers), 1992.
  13. “China: Domestic Constraints” in K.P. Saksena, (ed.), The Gulf in Turmoil – A Global Response (New Delhi: Lancers), 1992.

(c) Research Papers in Journals

  1. “India and Democracy Promotion: Cautious Approach and Opportunity”, India Quarterly, Vol. 71, No. 2, June 2015, pp. 160-173.
  2. “Indian and Chinese Engagement in UN Complex Peacekeeping Operations: A Comparative Perspective”, China Report, Vol. 49, No. 2, May 2013, pp. 205-226.
  3. The United Nations Peacebuilding in Kosovo: The Issue of Coordination” International Studies, Vol.47, No.1, January 2010, pp. 41-57.
  4. “Paradox of International System in the Case of Tibet Question” World Focus, No.4, April 2008, pp. 139-142.
  5. “The Question of Tibet in Recent Times”, World Focus, 2007, vol.xxvii, no.3, 107-112.
  6. “Chasing the Security Council Dream”, Africa Quarterly (New Delhi) 2007, vol.47, no.1, 22-29.
  7. “India and the Current Concerns of UN Peacekeeping: Issues and Prospects”, India Quarterly, 2007, vol. LXIII, no.2, April-June, 150-184.
  8. “India’s Perspective on the UN Security Council Reform”, India Quarterly, 2007, vol. LXIII, no.4, October-December, 14-48.
  9. “The Current Trends in UN Peacekeeping and India: Issues and Prospects” India Foreign Affairs Journal (New Delhi) 2006, vol.1, no.4, 60-77.
  10. “China’s Stand on UN Peacekeeping Operations: Changing Priorities of Foreign Policy”, China Report, 2005, 41(1), 39-56.
  11. “Role of the United Nations in Promoting Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study of India”, Journal of Contemporary Asia and Europe (Jaipur) 2005, vol.II, no.1, Jan-June, 59-80.
  12. “The United Nations and Women’s Rights: An Overview of Issues and Achievements”, South Asian Journal of Human Rights (Siliguri) 2005, vol.1, no.1, 1-22.
  13. “The Human Rights Factor in US-China Relations: The Carter Period”, China Report (New Delhi), vol. 36, no.2, April-June 2000.
  14. “Human Rights as a Factor in German Foreign Policy”, Indian Journal of Politics (Aligarh) 1997, vol. xxxi, no.4, pp. 120-138.
  15. “Cultural Evolution of Sikkim: A Survey”, Bulletin of Tibetology (Gangtok) 1995, Seminar Volume.
  16. “Tibet and Recent Development in Central Asia”, Indian Journal of Politics (Aligarh) 1993, vol. xxvii, no.1-2.
  17. “The Third World in China’s Foreign Policy”, Strategic Studies (Kathmandu) 1986, no.8- 10.