China on Monday slammed India for allowing the Dalai Lama to inaugurate a Buddhist conference at Rajgir in Bihar, saying that it was “strongly dissatisfied” with the move. “Recently, India ignored China’s solemn representations and strong opposition and insisted on inviting the 14th Dalai Lama to attend an international Buddhist conference organised by the Indian government,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.
Ms. Hua said that the Dalai Lama — the Tibetan leader in exile — also shared the stage with Indian government officials and delivered a speech. “China is strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed to this,” Ms. Hua observed.
To them, Dalai is a separatist
The spokeswoman added: “We urge the India side to clearly recognise the anti-China separatist nature of the Dalai clique, abide by its promises on the Tibet issue, respect China's core interests and avoid further disturbances and harm to China-India relations.”
The Ministry of Culture in India said in a statement that the Dalai Lama and Minister of Culture Mahesh Sharma inaugurated the conference on Friday.
In his closing remarks at the conference, President Pranab Mukherjee stressed that Buddha’s teachings were especially relevant on account of the violence prevailing across the globe.
In December, Mr. Mukherjee had hosted the Dalai Lama at the Rashtrapati Bhavan along with other Nobel prize winners — a move that had irked Beijing.
He is to visit Arunachal
Next month, the Dalai Lama is expected to visit Arunachal Pradesh — the State at the heart of the Sino-Indian dispute in the eastern sector.
China has already strongly opposed New Delhi’s decision. “India is fully aware of the seriousness of the Dalai Lama issue and the sensitivity of the China-India border question. Under such a background, if India invites the Dalai Lama to visit the mentioned territory, it will cause serious damage to peace and stability of the border region and China-India relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang had said earlier this month.
