Dharamsala, November 11 – With differences between China and India over the visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tawang catching headlines, a delegation of China’s Communist Party leaders met today with India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna to “soothe ties that are under stress over a host of issues,” according to a report by the Indo Asian News Service.
Liu Qibao, member of the CPC Central Committee, discussed a range of bilateral issues with Krishna, including trade and investment and cooperation in disaster mitigation, the IANS reported.
Liu, chief of the CPC’s Sichuan Provincial Committee, is heading a six-member delegation that includes Sichuan Provincial Committee’s deputy secretary general Chen Yonggang.
The delegation’s visit comes at a time when India and China engage in a war of words over the Tibetan leader’s “non-political” visit to Arunachal Pradesh. China yesterday reiterated its accusations against India that it disregarded the solemn position of China by allowing the Dalai Lama to visit Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing regards as part of what it calls “south Tibet.”
Meanwhile, India’s Minister of state for external affairs, Shashi Tharoor, pointed out that the Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh was on his own initiative, and underlined that the Indian government had nothing to do with it.
