In yet another turnaround, the government on Thursday said that the controversial conference of Chinese dissidents held in Dharamsala last week had not taken place.
“Let me make it clear that there was no conference,” the MEA spokesperson told journalists on Thursday.
“Certain individuals had come to India to meet the Dalai Lama. As you are aware, the Dalai Lama is a respected spiritual leader and there is absolutely no bar on foreigners coming to India to meet him. So that is what I have to say about this so called meeting," the spokesperson added.
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The government’s stand on the gathering Dharamsala held between April 28-May 1, indicates a decision to play down the impact of the conference, which came into the limelight when Uighur activist based in Germany Dolkun Isa announced that he would be attending it, following which, the government informed him that his visa was cancelled. Two other activists were restrained from boarding their flights to India. The MEA had earlier said that they had been stopped because they had all received e-visas which are not available for conference delegates, and should have applied through the Indian embassy.
Several attendees to the conference countered the government’s actions and criticised what they called “conflicting statements”. “The conference was certainly held,” said Jayadeva Ranade, former senior official and President of Centre for China Analysis and Strategy who is associated with the Vivekananda international foundation (VIF). “To cancel visas, or try to deny it undermines the strength of our negotiating position with China as well,” he explained.
Former Congress party member of parliament Mani Shankar Aiyar accused the government of shifting positions on visas it issued because it was “embarrassed”, after initially wanting to allow the conference “in retaliation for China’s actions at the UNSC on Masood Azhar.” Mr. Aiyar, who spoke at the conference said it included about 50-60 international attendees, who had also met with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala.
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According to the invitation letter sent out to international participants of the conference, a copy of which is with The Hindu, the theme of the “11th Interethnic/Interfaith Leadership conference” held at a hotel in Dharamsala was “Strengthening our alliance to Advance the people’s dream: Freedom Justice Equality and Peace”, and included prominent “Han Chinese, Tibetan, Uyghur, Mongolians, Christians, Muslims, Falun Gong” activists as delegates. The conference was organised by US-based Yang Jianli, who runs the “Initiatives for China” policy group, supported by the US Congress-funded National Endowment for Democracy.
Significantly, another controversial attendee at the conference, an author of the US Congress’s Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Katrina Lantos Swett, who has often published critical reports on India did not, however have her visa cancelled. Speaking to The Hindu after she returned to the US, Ms. Swett confirmed her participation at the conference, and that she had received an online e-visa to travel, despite the fact that India had denied her delegation from the USCIRF a visa in March this year.
Some experts said regardless of the government’s explanation that there was “no conference”, there must be an enquiry into the visas granted to the delegates. “This conference seems to have been funded. “All conferences with foreign delegates and foreign organisers required Home Ministry (MHA) clearance. So it must be investigated further,” said Mohan Guruswamy of think-tank Centre for Policy Alternatives, who often organises such conferences.