Phunchok Stobdan
Indian ambassador to Kyrgyzstan
In office
2010–2012
Preceded byJ.S. Pande
Personal details
Born (1958-12-20) 20 December 1958
NationalityIndian
OccupationDiplomat, Ambassador

Phunchok Stobdan (born 20 December 1958) is a former Indian civil servant and served as the Indian ambassador to Kyrgyzstan.[1][2] He was also a senior fellow at Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, and was the founding president of the Ladakh International Centre.[3][4]

Stobdan is an academician, diplomat and author, and regarded as an expert on Indian foreign policy and national security on Central and Inner Asian affairs.[5]

Career

He has earlier served in the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), which reports to National Security Advisor.[3]

Works

Stobdan is author of the book The Great Game in the Buddhist Himalayas: India and China’s Quest for Strategic Dominance.[6][7][8] The book looks at China–India relations through prism of Buddhist Himalayas.[9]

Stance on the Sanju Pass and Hindutash Passes in Ladakh

Map titled Chinese Empire & Japan by John Bartholomew & published, in 1893 by John Walker and Co Ltd, London in The Handy Reference Atlas of the World depicting the International Boundary of India with East Turkistan on the Kuen Lun Range & depicting Kukalang & Hindutash Passes, & the Raskam Tract adjoining the Kuen Lun Range in northern Kashmir & the Karakash River in Kashmir as part of India and depicting the provinces of Bengal, Nepal, Assam including the Assam Himalaya, and Kashmir as part of India prior to 1947

According to Phunchok Stobdan, "...Kashmir’s sovereignty extended up to the Hindu-tash in the mid-19th century, when Maharaja Ranbir Singh ordered the building of a fort on a bluff at Shahidulla in 1864 to prevent the spillover of unrest when Yakub Beg was driven out by the Chinese from Khotan". "Remarkably, in the midst of the Great Game, British surveyor William H. Johnson travelled to Khotan in 1865 to establish a forward line to thwart Russian entry into the subcontinent. Johnson fixed a point — Brinjga — as India’s boundary in the Kunlun, opposite Karanghu Tagh of Ladakh. The Chinese Yangi Langar post fell deep inside Khotanese territory. A broad slice of territory along the Kunlun Mountain Range, on which Kilian and Sanju Passes are located, depicted India’s northernmost boundary line. Thus, the entire Karakash valley was ascribed to be part of Kashmir".Apart from the defence of Kashmir, Johnson was possibly prompted to draw the alignment for several reasons: First, Shahidulla formed a vital tract junction between the Karakoram and Kunlun ranges through which Uyghur, Indian and Tibetan caravans traversed; second, Karakash had a strong Indian Buddhist imprint since ancient times; third, the Uyghur tribes historically recognised Hindu-tagh or Hindu-tash to be the traditional frontier with India; fourth, the entire Karakash valley with its waters could have been easily brought under cultivation by farmers of Nubra and Changthang; fifth, settling the population in the valley would have been another consideration, though the area was prone to attacks by Kanjuti robbers; sixth, Yaqub Beg himself regarded the Kunlun range to be the limit of Kashgharia.



Stobdan also writes columns for The Indian Express and The Tribune (Chandigarh).[3][5]

References

  1. "Phunchok Stobdan". www.delhipolicygroup.org. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  2. "Prof. Phunchok Stobdan to be the next Ambassador of India to Kyrgyzstan".
  3. 1 2 3 Phunchok Stobdan (profile), Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, retrieved 4 June 2020.
  4. "Former diplomat Stobdan's comments on Dalai Lama spark row, Leh markets shut on Monday". The Print.
  5. 1 2 P. Stobdan (26 May 2020). "As China intrudes across LAC, India must be alert to a larger strategic shift". Indian Express.
  6. Shyam Saran (16 February 2020). "Rocky Mountain High (book review)". Indian Express.
  7. Bérénice Guyot-Réchard (6 March 2020). "Buddhist power politics". India Today.
  8. Ajay Banerjee (1 December 2019). "Why Tibet can cause the great Himalayan divide". The Tribune (Chandigarh).
  9. PTI (12 October 2019). "Book looks at Sino-India ties through prism of Buddhist Himalayas". Outlook.
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