By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, MAR. 21: China on Monday said it is “dissatisfied’ and “strongly opposed” to the Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama’s presence at an Indian government organized religious event in Bihar. The octogenarian Tibetan leader who returned to Dharamsala following his tour of three Indian states, was invited to speak and inaugurate the state sponsored “The Relevance of Buddhism in the 21st Century” in Nalanda, Bihar where he met with prominent Indian politicians and dignitaries.
Chinese Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying yesterday said that India is not respecting China’s sovereignty by engaging with the Dalai Lama whom China regards as a “separatist”. “We urge the Indian side to clearly see the anti-China splittist nature of the Dalai group and honour its commitment on Tibet and related questions, respect China’s core concerns and avoid China-India relations from being further disrupted and undermined,” Hua said.
Although China’s objection to the Dalai Lama is not new, the frequency of such objection has risen in the recent months. Observers say that India is enabling the discourse through its visibly changed outlook when it comes to engaging with noted Tibetan refugees such as the Dalai Lama who is due to visit the disputed Tawang region next month and the Karmapa Lama who recently made his maiden trip to the region China claims to be their own.
Earlier this month China relayed a strong worded statement objecting the Dalai Lama’s planned trip to border state of Arunachal Pradesh with FM spokesperson saying, “China is strongly opposed to Dalai visiting disputed areas.”
“China’s position on eastern section of China-India border dispute is consistent and clear. The Dalai-clique has long been engaging in anti-China separatist activities and its record on the border question is not that good,” he added.
In his recently concluded trip, the Nobel laureate expressed gratitude to India for hosting him and his people since they came into exile and said he was a “son of India”.
An article in Chinese government mouthpiece Global Times indicated that the rise of BJP to power in India will weaken China’s chances of solving its border dispute with India.
