China- India tension over Dalai Lama escalates.India and China on Tuesday sought to engage in a verbal duel over Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama's ongoing visit to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (är'ənächəl prədĕsh`), state (2001 provisional pop. 1,091,117), 31,438 sq mi (81,424 sq km), NE India, bordered on the north by the Tibet region of China and on the east by Myanmar. The capital is Itanagar. .While minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor took on China over an article published in its state- run media, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang expressed strong disappointment over the Dalai Lama's visit to the border state. The Chinese media had said that India threw a political challenge to China following its stand on the Dalai Lama. Tharoor had clarified on Monday that New Delhi had no role in arranging his visit. On Tuesday, Tharoor took strong exception to the article accusing India of ' using' the Dalai Lama and not learning lessons from the 1962 war: " Talk of India not learning lessons from 1962 is silly. We are not woefully woe·ful also wo·ful adj. 1. Affected by or full of woe; mournful. 2. Causing or involving woe. 3. Deplorably bad or wretched: prepared as we were in 1962 and such language will not help. China's articulations in recent weeks have been nothing but an irritant ir·ri·tant adj. Causing irritation, especially physical irritation. n. A source of irritation. irritant, n 1. an agent that causes an irritation or stimulation. 2. ." Tharoor, however, also sought to calm down the rhetoric. " India's territorial integrity is non- negotiable... We are anxious to move on from this," he said. Addressing a news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, Qin slammed India for facilitating the Tibetan leader's visit. " The Indian side allowed the Dalai Lama to visit the disputed eastern section of the China- India border regardless of China's grave concerns," he said. Issuing a strong warning to the Dalai Lama, Qin said, " We firmly oppose the Dalai Lama's visit to the region. The visit fully exposes his separatist nature. His attempt will not succeed." Sources in the Indian foreign ministry claimed that the Chinese media is " exploiting" the opportunity of the Dalai Lama's visit to reassert Beijing's territorial claims on Arunachal Pradesh. " Such media references may not augur augur: see omen. well for bilateral ties, particularly after PM- level and foreign minister- level meetings that built political trust," a senior official stressed. Copyright 2009 India Today Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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