No quid pro quo with China on Tibet: Centre
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday told the Rajya Sabha that there was no quid pro quo with China on the issues of "sufferings" of the Tibetan people and stapled visas being given to residents of Arunachal Pradesh by Beijing.
Responding to supplementaries on the issue of stapled visa to Arunachal residents by China, she said “the issue has been raised in every bilateral meeting at various levels, be it at my level or that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The issue has been raised by us.”
Asked about India's stand on Tibet, she said “We used to earlier talk of One China policy, but we used to say that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. And when we say that, we want that China should also recognise this. Our policy has been made very clear.”
On the issue of whether India remained a mute spectator towards the alleged atrocities in Tibet, the minister said, “We are not sitting as a mute spectator. Whenever there are differences, we raise them.”
She said the Dalai Lama wanted to visit Tawang and the government allowed him to do so.
“This is not the first time but the fifth or sixth time that he is visiting that place,” she said.
“Whatever issue that is there and goes against India's interest, we lodge our protest," Swaraj added.
To a question, she said there was no policy under which Chinese companies are denied security permission. She also objected to a member raising the issue of a particular Chinese company in the House.
She said that denial of security permission to one particular company cannot determine the relations between the two countries. The minister said it is done under a process and if a Japanese or a Korean company applied, they get it first.
To another question on the cancellation of a visit of Indian journalists to Tibet by China, minister of state for external affairs M J Akbar said there is no official information from China about it.
He said Indian journalists are independent and take their decisions independently and it was between them and the Chinese authorities about the visit to Tibet.
Akbar said in 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Xi Jinping in Astana, a close development partnership issue was raised and both countries decided to increase people-to-people and media contacts and decided to do everything to bring the two countries together.
“We will continue to make such efforts and take them forward," he said, adding that a highlevel media forum has been established to further strengthen media exchanges.
PARLIAMENT PASSES BILL TO GIVE IIITS STATUTORY STATUS
NEWDELHI: A bill to grant statutory status to the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT) in private-partnership mode after the government assured the reservation policy would apply there too, was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
The Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Bill, 2017, seeks to grant statutory status to 15 IIITs and declare them as Institutions of National Importance. These institutions will now be able to grant degrees, including M.Tech and PhD.
MoS for HRD Mahendra Nath Pandey said the Centre has "ensured representation of SC/ STs" in the law and the reservation policy will be followed in these institutions. Earlier, D Raja of the CPI sought to know why the government was not openly stating in the Bill that it will follow the states' policy of reservation.