Volume 4 (1958-62) looks into the last years of the Indian presence in Tibet. Delhi was living in a dream world; the reports from Lhasa should have alerted the government and at least opened the eyes of the Indian intelligence agencies; it was not to be the case.

The closure of the Indian Consulate in Lhasa in mid-December 1962 was the last straw; a few months earlier the Indian Trade Agencies in Yatung, Gyantse and Gartok had ceased to exist, bringing down the curtain on India�s presence in Tibet.

An era had come to an end; Mao's China did not want any Indians in 'its' new colony; a sense of jealousy towards India prevailed.

Beijing clearly resented the existence of an age-old civilizational relation between India and Tibet and the goodwill of the Tibetans for India.

End of an Era: India Exists Tibet (India Tibet Relations 1947-1962) Part 4, Claude Arpi,Vij Books India, Paperback, 608 pp, $39.00

Claude Arpi was born in 1949 in Angouleme, France. Since 1974, he is settled in South India. He is the author of several books and more than two thousand articles on Tibet, China, India, defence, border issues and Indo-French relations. Claude Arpi holds the Field Marshal KM Cariappa Chair of Excellence of the United Service Institution of India for his research on India-Tibet Relations.