Dharamsala, November, 5: The Indian government refused Thursday to allow foreign journalists to cover the exiled Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit to the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, according to a media report.
Permits allowing foreign correspondents to travel to Arunachal Pradesh state were not given, and the government revoked passes previously provided to four of them, including two Associated Press journalists, AP reported.
Foreigners require special government permission to visit the mountainous state.
“We are incredibly surprised and disappointed to learn that reporters’ visas to Arunachal Pradesh have been canceled ahead of the Dalai Lama’s visit,” AP quoted Heather Timmons, president of the New Delhi-based Foreign Correspondents’ Club, as saying.
Arunachal Bhavan, which issues permit for foreigners visiting the state, today stopped issuing coverage permit for foreign journalists, saying it was acting on the instruction of the External Affairs Ministry not to issue it.
China has strongly opposed the exiled Tibetan leader’s visit to Arunchal Pradesh beginning Sunday.
Last week, the Dalai Lama said China was overpoliticizing his travels, adding his decisions on where to go were spiritual in nature, not political.
Rejecting Beijing’s objections to the Tibetan leader’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna has said, “Dalai Lama is free to visit anywhere in India”.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also said last week after meeting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that the Dalai Lama was “an honoured guest” of India.
