India and China on Monday continued long-running discussions on the possibility of opening new consulates to expand diplomatic contact as they held the sixth round of their strategic dialogue here, but have not reached agreement amid persisting Chinese reservations on India opening a consulate in Lhasa, Tibet.
Despite India’s long-pending interest in Lhasa, China has clarified that it will not allow any additional foreign diplomatic presence in Tibet. Only Nepal has diplomatic presence in Lhasa, while U.S. requests were denied.
Asked if Lhasa was discussed on Monday, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said, “We have certain places in mind, but we are certainly not going to talk about it before it is finalised.”
Sources, however, suggested that India was increasingly inclined to accepting China’s reservations — at least for now — by putting on hold its request for Lhasa and considering opening up a presence either in Chengdu in southwestern Sichuan province, which borders Tibet and is also an increasingly thriving hub of information technology, or in Kunming in south-western Yunnan province.
