Live: China Wrong to Slam Delhi Over Dalai Lama, Says Arunachal CM
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived at Bomdila in West Kameng district on Tuesday evening.
- The Dalai Lama arrived in Bomdila late on 4 April for a nine-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh
- China lodged a protest with India’s ambassador over the Dalai Lama’s visit to the state
- Earlier, Beijing said the visit has ‘seriously damaged ties with India’
- The Dalai Lama is scheduled to address a gathering at Dirang Monastery on 6 April
Beijing Has No Right to Threaten Delhi on Dalai Lama's Movement: Arunachal CM
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Wednesday said China has "no right to threaten" India over Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama's movements in Arunachal Pradesh, which, he said, shares a border with "Tibet and not China".
China Lodges Protest with India's Ambassador in Beijing
China said today it has lodged a diplomatic protest with India for allowing the Dalai Lama to visit the "disputed" parts of Arunachal Pradesh.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it has lodged the protest with India's Ambassador in Beijing, Vijay Gokhale.
Dalai Lama's Visit Seriously Damaged Ties with India: China
China said on Wednesday that it plans to lodge a diplomatic protest with India for "obstinately" allowing the Dalai Lama to visit "disputed" Arunachal Pradesh, causing "serious damage" to bilateral ties
Speaking to reporters, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said:
China firmly opposes this move and will make representations to the Indian side, she added.
We Don't Want Independence but 'Meaningful Self-Rule': Dalai Lama
'Have an Emotional Connect With Arunachal Pradesh'
The Dalai Lama spoke fondly of Arunachal Pradesh and said he had a special connection with the state, as it had served as his point of entry when he escaped to India from Tibet in 1959.
He thanked the Indian government for allowing him to live in India.
'India Not Using Me Against China'
The Dalai Lama on Wednesday rubbished claims made by Chinese official media that he was being used by the Narendra Modi government as “diplomatic leverage” to challenge China.
A report in The Global Times had said that India is using the Dalai Lama as a diplomatic tool to counter China.
Dalai Lama's Session Underway in Bomdila
The Dalai Lama gave a discourse at Buddha Park in Bomdila after he arrived at the state’s West Kameng district on Tuesday evening.
Accompanied by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, the spiritual leader arrived by road as his chopper could not take off from Guwahati due to inclement weather.
This marks the start of the Dalai Lama’s nine-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh. On 6 April, he will impart teachings at Dirang and confer the 'Avalokiteshvara Permission' at Thupsung Dhargyeling Monastery in the morning.
From 8 April to 10 April, the Dalai Lama will deliver discourses in disputed Tawang.
'India Is Using Dalai Lama's Visit to Upset China'
India is using the Dalai Lama's visit to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh to upset China and New Delhi should deliver on its political commitments to Beijing on Tibet-related issues, state-run Chinese media said.
The 14th Dalai Lama's visit to Tawang bordering China will hurt Sino-Indian ties because China opposes any official invitations to him, the Global Times quoted an unnamed Chinese analyst as saying.
Reacting to Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju's remarks that the Dalai Lama's visit is "purely religious," and that there is no political angle behind it, the expert said this is not the first time India has used the Dalai Lama to express its displeasure to China, especially when bilateral talks fail to include their demands or to "pander to domestic anti-China issues".
'No Artificial Controversy'
Amid persistent Chinese objections to the Dalai Lama's trip to Arunachal Pradesh, India said no "artificial controversy" should be created around the Tibetan spiritual leader's visit.
The Dalai Lama's visit to the state comes eight years after his previous visit in 2009 which was exactly 50 years after he had passed through the town on his way from Lhasa in Tibet to India.
(With inputs from PTI)
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