A Special Guest Lecture was conducted at the BIDTI on 26th May, 2023 by Prof. Bérénice Guyot-Réchard of King’s College London exclusively for participants of the BIDTI programmes.
Prof. Guyot-Réchard is the author of the critically acclaimed ‘Shadow States: India, China and the Himalayas, 1910-62’. A specialist of modern South Asia and the Indian Ocean, Prof. Guyot-Réchard holds an associate professorship in contemporary international history at King’s College London. Her award-winning work focuses on the long-term impact of decolonization, particularly in terms of international politics. She has written extensively on the strategic borderlands between India, China and Burma.
During her presentation, Prof. Guyot-Réchard revealed how the political tensions between two nations that took place from 1949 – 1962 who are striving for development have been exacerbated by geography and how sharing a border has increased their rivalry. Professor paid special significance to the friction in the Eastern Himalayan borderlands to which both nations lay claim. She explained the competition between the two nations to win over hearts and minds of the people in the border areas.
