Gyalo Thondup, Dalai Lama’s brother and Tibet’s shadow diplomat, passes away at 97

The Dalai Lama with his second-eldest brother Gyalo Thondup in December 2023, in this image released by the Office of HIs Holiness the Dalai Lama. (Image: rfa.org)

Gyalo Thondup, the elder brother of the Dalai Lama and a pivotal figure in Tibet’s political struggle, passed away at the age of 97 at his home in Kalimpong, West Bengal, on February 8th evening. While no additional details about his death were immediately released, Tibetan media credited him for his diplomatic efforts and his role in facilitating US support for the Tibetan cause, according to the Associated Press.

Thondup was instrumental in negotiations with China, working as an intermediary while also forging connections with foreign governments to garner support for Tibet’s autonomy. Unlike the Dalai Lama, who brought Tibet’s plight to the global stage through spiritual leadership and advocacy, Thondup operated behind the scenes, navigating international diplomacy and intelligence networks to advance the Tibetan struggle. The Washington Post described him as arguably the second-most important figure in modern Tibetan history, shaping the region’s fate through political maneuvering and high-level negotiations.

Born in Taktser, in what is now Qinghai province in China, Thondup was one of seven surviving siblings of illiterate farmers. His life took a turn when his younger brother, Lhamo Thondup, was identified as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1937. While the Dalai Lama was trained in Buddhist teachings, Thondup was groomed for political leadership. He studied in Nanjing under the patronage of Chiang Kai-shek, leader of China’s nationalist government, before fleeing to India in 1952 following the rise of Mao Zedong’s communist regime, The Washington Post adds.

According to The Washington Post, Thondup collaborated with the CIA in a covert campaign that trained and armed Tibetan rebels to fight Chinese forces in the late 1950s and 1960s. Nearly 300 Tibetan fighters were trained in Colorado’s Camp Hale, with arms and supplies air-dropped into Tibet. However, the resistance was largely suppressed, and U.S. support waned in the 1970s as President Richard Nixon pursued rapprochement with China. Reflecting on this, Thondup later expressed his disappointment, stating that the U.S. had used Tibet to create trouble for China rather than genuinely supporting Tibetan independence.

Following the failure of armed resistance, Thondup turned to diplomatic channels, leading multiple rounds of negotiations with Chinese leaders, including Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. Despite his efforts, he was unable to secure conditions for the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet. Over the years, he continued to play a crucial role in the Tibetan exile government, helping establish key institutions like the Offices of Tibet in the U.S. and Switzerland.

In his later years, Thondup settled in Kalimpong, where he lived on a three-acre compound that included a small noodle factory. The Washington Post says, his 2015 memoir, The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong: The Untold Story of My Struggle for Tibet, recounted his decades-long fight for Tibet’s political future, his dealings with global powers, and controversies surrounding missing monastic wealth during the Dalai Lama’s exile.

According to The Associated Press, the Dalai Lama, currently in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, led a prayer session for him on February 9, saying, “His efforts towards the Tibetan struggle were immense, and we are grateful for his contribution.” In line with Buddhist traditions, he also prayed for Thondup’s “swift rebirth.”

Thondup’s wife, Diki Dolkar, passed away in 1986, and their daughter, Yangzom Doma, died in a car accident in the 1980s. He is survived by his sons, Ngawang Tanpa Thondup and Khedroob Thondup, according to the International Campaign for Tibet.

In 2002, after five decades in exile, Thondup briefly returned to Lhasa at the invitation of the Chinese government. The report by The Washington Post adds, his lifelong dream of returning home alongside his brother remained unfulfilled. “We have to return home together,” the Dalai Lama once told him, a wish that never materialised.

(With inputs from Associated Press and The Washinton Post)