JOIN USNo change in Tibet policy: govt
India on Friday made it clear that there is no change in its policy towards Tibet and on the border issue with China following the Dalai Lama’s week-long visit to Arunachal Pradesh.
New Delhi’s statement comes after China’s spokespersons and its official media had accused India of violating its commitment on the Tibet issue and warned that allowing the Dalai Lama to go there would have “negative impact” on the settlement of the border dispute.
“Let me make it absolutely clear that there is no change whatsoever in the Government of India’s policy towards the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China,” said Gopal Baglay, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.
On April 8, despite loud protests from Bejing, the Dalai Lama addressed devotees at a historic monastery in the border town of Tawang, where the sixth Dalai Lama was born more than three centuries ago.
“Similarly, our approach to seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question remains unchanged,” Baglay added.
Baglay’s response came after he was asked whether the Tibetan spiritual leader’s visit to the state from April 4 to 11 signalled a change in India’s policy on Tibet or on the border negotiations with China.
An article titled ‘Tawang’s history affirms China’s sovereignty’ in the Global Times alleged that “India has pursued expansionism” since gaining independence in 1947.
“Influenced by the British, India sent troops to the north, beyond the traditional customary border between China and India,” said the article written by Jia Liang of the Centre for Tibetan Studies of Sichuan University.
Indian officials have held that this was not the Dalai Lama’s first visit to Tawang, in northern Arunachal Pradesh.