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India Snubs China, Clears Dalai Lama’s Visit To Arunachal Pradesh
The Dalai Lama gestures as he arrives for a meeting with young people in France. Photo credit: PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/GettyImages
It will now be China's turn to chafe at India. After being subjected to a series of snubs on membership of Nuclear Suppliers Group and proscribing Lashkar-a-Taiba chief Masood Azhar, India has delivered a subtle blow to China that will rankle it a lot.
New Delhi has cleared a visit of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to Arunachal Pradesh in March next year. China has always bristled with rage at the Tibetan leader's visit to the northeastern state that Beijing claims is 'Southern Tibet' and, hence, territory of China. This time, too, Beijing is bound to raise vociferous objections to the proposed visit of the Dalai Lama.
But, as in 2009 when New Delhi brushed aside China's objections to the Dalai Lama visiting Tawang in western Arunachal Pradesh by stating that the spiritual leader was free to visit any part of India, this time, too, India will disregard Beijing's protests.
China had even opposed former prime minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the frontier state in October 2009. In April this year, a remark by US consul general to Kolkata, Craig Hall, that the US was clear that Arunachal was an integral part of India, got China's goat. Beijing angrily objected to that remark.
India has given the go-ahead to Dalai Lama's visit when China is siding with Pakistan in the battle over terror. It shows New Delhi's readiness to play the Tibet card and that must surely rankle China.
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