evidence: After Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visit to China in June 2003, a joint declaration was signed in which India recognised that "the Tibet Autonomous Region is part of the territory of the People's Republic of China".[31][32] In Chinese view, this meant that India had, for "the first time", officially recognised Tibet as "part of China".[33][34] Some Indian and western commentators interpret it to mean that India had recognised China's "sovereignty" over Tibet.[31][35] In return China, over a period of time, incrementally took steps to acknowledge India's sovereignty over Sikkim.[35][36] Brahma Chellaney has written that India's recognition of Chinese sovereignty over Tibet constituted its "single biggest security blunder".[37] [...] - ^ Nilofar Shrawardy, India Recognizes Tibet As Part Of China, Arab News, 25 June 2003. "... India for the first time explicitly recognized Tibet as a part of China, according to a copy of the declaration released by the official Chinese news agency Xinhua late yesterday."