BEIJING, JULY 20 – A reported meeting of Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has not gone well with China, which today urged New Delhi to refrain from doing things that would hurt the “good momentum” witnessed in bilateral ties recently.
“We hope the Indian side will abide by the political commitment, refrain from interfering in China’s internal affairs and affect the good momentum of Sino-Indian relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said, reacting to the report in an Indian daily.
She said China hoped that India would adhere to the “political commitment” it made last year.
“The Dalai Lama is simply not a religious figure rather a political exile … engaged in splittist activities,” Zhang said while stressing that the Chinese government is opposed to any meetings with the Dalai Lama by “officials of any country in any name or any form.” China had protested similarly when US President George W Bush as well as Prince Charles met the 69-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate in recent months.
Zhang also pointed out that last June, China and India signed the first-ever ‘Declaration of Principles for Relations and Comprehensive Cooperation’ to guide the bilateral ties.
