India, China should live side by side: Dalai

NEW DELHI: Tibetan spiritual leader Dal a iL am a on Wednesday said the India-China standoff at Doklam was “not a very serious issue and the two neigh bo ur swill have to live together side by side ”.

Dal a iL am a said the two countries had gone through phase sin their history when they used “harsh words” against each other, but the only way forward was the spirit of “Hindi, Chini, Bhai Bhai” (India and China are brothers).

While India calls the Dalai Lama a spiritual leader and an honoured guest, the Chinese term him a splittist.

“I do not think it is very serious. India and China have to live side by side ,” the Dal a iL am a said when asked about views on the standoff at Doklam — the IndiaBhutan-Tibet tri-junction — which entered the second month.

Diplomatic efforts to break the logjam, the longest standoff between theneighb ours over two decades, are still on.

“Even in 1962 (India-China war), Chinese forces, which reached Bomdila (in Arunachal Pradesh), eventually withdrew. India and China have to live side by side,” Dalai Lama said in response to a question after delivering the Rajendra Mathur Memorial Lecture organised by the Editors Guild of India. India and China have been locked in a face-off in the Do kl am area of the Sikkim sector for more than 50 days after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the area.

China claimed it was constructing the road within its territory and has been demanding immediate withdrawal of the Indian troops from the disputed Doklam plateau.

But India maintains that China’ s road construction would alter the status of the tri-junction and says this violates a 2012 understanding. According to the understanding, the status quo at the tri-junction cannot be changed without the consent of thirdparty (in this case, Bhutan).

Answering another question on the possibility of talks between representatives of Chinese government and his officials, Dalai Lama said he expected some development in this regard after the party congress of the Chinese Communist Party later this year.

Dal a iL am a said India“should sponsor” more Chinese students and “facilitate” more Chinese tourists to promote better understanding between the two countries. He did not give a direct reply to a question on whether the Narendra Modi government was more favour ab ly disposed to the Tibetan cause compared to the governments before.