The Five Fingers of Tibet is a Chinese foreign policy attributed to Mao Zedong that considers Tibet to be China’s right hand palm, with five fingers on its periphery: Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, and Arunachal Pradesh, and that it is China’s responsibility to “liberate”(means capture) these regions. It was never discussed in official Chinese public statements but an article in a provisional mouthpiece magazine of the Chinese Communist Party verified the existence of this policy in the aftermath of the 2017 China–India border standoff.

Lets understand why is China aiming for capturing the 5 fingers?

  1. China captured Tibet (and thanks to Nehru who allowed China to do this).
  2. After capturing Tibet, China wants to cross the Himalayas as Himalayas is a natural border between India and China.
  3. In order to cross Himalayas and exert influence in the Indian subcontinent, it needs to find entry points and these are the “five fingers”.

What role each of the finger will play?

  1. Ladakh: Control over this will give china full access to Pakistan and subsequently to Arabian sea which will connect China to the Arabia and west.
  2. Nepal: Control over Nepal will give China access to Indian heartland. It can easily build rail or roads easily to India. Or if it deploys its armies in Nepal, then states of UP, Bihar will be well within Chinese reach militarily.
  3. Sikkim: Control over Sikkim will give China an edge in cutting off India’s Chicken neck (i.e. siliguri corridor) and cutoff North East from Indian mainland.
  4. Bhutan: Control over this area will bring China closer to Bangladesh through which it can reach Bay of Bengal.
  5. Arunachal Pradesh: Control over this area will help China capture entire North east.

Though this policy is not official, Chinese diplomats do have this strategy in mind. Not only that, Nepal was almost about to go to Chinese control, but at the nick of time, the pro-China Nepal Communist party split and a neutral party (Nepali Congress) came to power.

Hence, it is important that India ensure that none of the fingers go to China’s control. Capturing one finger will accelerate the process of a neighboring finger being captured.

India under leadership of Nehru gave away the Palm(Tibet) to China, if India cannot liberate the Palm, India should at least ensure that none of the fingers go under Chinese control.

Summarizing, China wants to control 5 fingers (Ladakh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh) in addition to its Palm (Tibet) to get full access inside India and till the Oceans. Thereby, in other words, colonialize entire Indian subcontinent. We, Indians, must remain aware of China’s nefarious designs and thwart it to the best possible extent.

DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.