Dharamsala, October 16: India has reaffirmed the exiled Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s right to visit its disputed border region with China in the face of objections from Beijing, a media report said Saturday.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is slated to visit the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh next month, amidst a growing tension over border dispute between the giants neighbours. The proposed November trip will be the Dalai Lama’s fifth visit to the state, the last one was in 2003.
In an interview to All India Radio, India’s Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao reportedly made it clear that the Tibetan leader is free to visit any part of the country.
“We regard and we have always said this clearly and also to China that His Holiness Dalai Lama is a spiritual figure, he is a religious figure, and he does not indulge in political activities on Indian soil,” Rao said Friday, according to a report by The Indian Express newspaper.
“He is our guest in India and he is free to visit any part of our country,” she added.
Rao said China’s objections to the Dalai Lama’s visit had been taken “seriously” but maintained that India has been “very clear and unambivalent” in expressing its own position to the Chinese.
India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometres (14,700 square miles) of its Himalayan territory, while Beijing claims all of Arunachal Pradesh, which covers 90,000 square kilometres.
“Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India, it is an inalienable part of India,” Rao said.
Rao’s remarks came after India and China traded diplomatic jabs earlier this month over a visit in early October by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the state.
