Two developments strained this relationship. China annexed Tibet in 1950 and thus removed a historical buffer between the two countries. Initially, the government of India did not oppose this openly. But as more information came in about the suppression of Tibetan culture, the Indian government grew uneasy. The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, sought and obtained political asylum in India in 1959. Chine alleged that the government of India was allowing anti-China activities to take place within India.
Read the above passage carefully and answer the following questions:-
(i) What is meant by ‘historical buffer’?
(ii) Why didn’t the Government of India oppose the annexation of Tibet by China?
(iii) How far was it justified on the part of India to grant political asylum to the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetan refugees?
i) ‘Historical buffer’ means the country or area lies between two large and powerful countries, which acts like an insulator.
ii) India was a newly independent country and did not want to get involved with China unnecessarily. It was an internal matter of China, so India did not want to spoil its relation with China. But on later stage, India realized its mistake.
iii) It was fully justified to help them on humanitarian grounds as well as a good neighbour country.
