Why death of Dalai Lama’s brother Gyalo Thondup is the ‘end of an era’ for Tibetan exiles

Gyalo Thondup, who sought to mediate with Beijing, died aged 97 last week in his adopted Indian hometown

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Gyalo Thondup once played a crucial role in discussions between China’s central government and the Dalai Lama’s faction as his envoy. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:14pm, 14 Feb 2025Updated: 5:16pm, 14 Feb 2025

The death of Gyalo Thondup, elder brother to the 14th Dalai Lama and a prominent figure among exiled Tibetans, marks the “the end of an era” for attempted negotiations between Dharamsala and Beijing, according to observers.

Thondup’s death also comes at a sensitive time for Tibet, with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama expected to announce how his successor should be chosen when he reaches the age of 90 this July.

Thondup had long led negotiations with Beijing. Although those talks were suspended decades ago, his loss had deprived Tibetan exiles of an elder with first-hand experience of dealing with Beijing, the analysts said.

Thondup, one of six siblings of the Dalai Lama, died aged 97 on Saturday, in the Himalayan hill town of Kalimpong in eastern India.

A young Thondup left Tibet to settle in India in 1952 – the year after the People’s Liberation Army seized Lhasa in what Beijing has termed a “peaceful liberation”.

He quickly became instrumental in raising international support for the “Tibetan cause”, which in his early years meant total independence – but was later changed to indicate a high degree of autonomy under Beijing’s governance.