Dalai Lama’s Arunachal trip will harm ties, warns China
BEIJING: Bilateral ties will be seriously damaged if India allows the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh in the coming weeks, China warned on Friday while reiterating its contention that the Tibetan spiritual leader is a “separatist”.
The warning from China’s foreign ministry came soon after the country’s former chief negotiator on the border issue, Dai Bingguo, said there should be some give and take to settle the dragging boundary dispute.
India said that the visit is on. Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju told news agency PTI: “The Dalai Lama will be a guest of the Arunachal Pradesh government and as a devotee, I will meet him in Tawang.”
The minister represents the Arunachal (West) Lok Sabha constituency under which Tawang falls. China’s foreign ministry said it is “gravely concerned” about reports that the Dalai Lama will visit the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh in the near future.
The Dalai Lama’s visit will cause “serious damage” to China-India ties, ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a regular news briefing. “China’s position on eastern section of ChinaIndia border dispute is consistent and clear. The Dalaiclique has long been engaging in anti-China separatist activities and its record on the border question is not that good,” Geng said. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of its territory, calling it south Tibet. The state comprises the eastern sector of the nearly 3,500-km disputed border between India and China.
The town of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh is an important seat of Tibetan Buddhism. Geng avoided a direct comment on an interview by Dai Bingguo, China’s Special Representative for border talks with India till 2013, in which Dai had said: “If the Indian side takes care of China’s concerns on the eastern section of the border, the Chinese side will respond accordingly and address India’s concerns elsewhere.”
The Dalaiclique has long been engaging in antiChina separatist activities... its record on border question is not good GENG SHUANG, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson