Mixed signals: Mahesh Sharma and Ram Madhav to attend Dalai Lama’s Dharamshala event

After a move which suggested that India was trying to keep China in good humour about  Dalai Lama, the Modi government appears to have recalibrated its approach by deciding to send political luminaries to attend Dalai Lama’s event in Dharamshala.

According to a report in the Times of India, union culture minister Mahesh Sharma and BJP general secretary Ram Madhav will both participate in the Dalai Lama’s ‘Thank You India’ event in Dharamshala over the weekend.

Earlier this month, the Indian Express had reported that following a communication by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha had sent out a note to senior functionaries of the Central and state governments asking them to avoid events being organised by Tibetans.

"Government of India's position on His Holiness the Dalai Lama is clear and consistent. He is a revered religious leader and is deeply respected by the people of India. There is no change in that position," MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said.

 Gokhale had reportedly met the Dalai Lama to ask them to move the celebrations out of Delhi. The Centre had also cancelled an event on India-China relations at the government-funded think tank Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and a global conference on Tibet

However, later India officially denied placing any restrictions on the Dalai Lama. The assertion came in response to reports that said that senior government functionaries had been asked to "skip" year-long events organised by the exiled Tibetan government as part of its 'Thank you India" campaign to mark the 60th year of the arrival of the Tibetan spiritual leader.

The Ministry of External Affairs denied there has been any change in India's position on Tibet and that the Dalai Lama was free to travel and attend programmes across the country. "He [Dalai Lama] is a revered religious leader and is deeply respected by the people of India. There is no change in that position. His Holiness is accorded all freedom to carry out his religious activities in India," said MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.

In August 2017, Arunachal CM Pema Khandu had accompanied Dalai Lama on a visit along with Union Minister Kiren Rijiju had ‘warned’ China: “Let me get this straight. China has no business telling us what to do and what not to do because it is not our next-door neighbour.” He further added that the McMahon Line demarcates the boundary between India and Tibet. Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,080km stretch of this line.”

Union minister Kiren Rijiju’s visit had drawn a comment from China’s Global Times: “Rijiju might think himself cute in borrowing a line from Beijing's diplomatic representations, but he has ignored the fundamental distinction here: Like Taiwan and any other part of China, Tibet is a part of the Chinese territory no matter whether New Delhi agrees or not.”

Rijiju had made it clear that China has no right to object to the Dalai Lama’s travel to any part of India. He had said: "Arunachal Pradesh is an inseparable part of India and China should not object to his visit and interfere in India's internal affairs."

For decades, the Dalai Lama has brought Buddhist teachings to audiences across the world, while lobbying political leaders to press China to grant Tibet more cultural autonomy. He has said that his exile, while painful, brought some benefits, because it forced him to travel, enabled him to meet new people and helped the Nobel Peace Prize laureate spread Buddhist teachings. Last year, the Dalai Lama had public events in eight foreign cities, as compared to 16 in 2016 and 11 in 2015.

The Tibetian spiritual leader will complete his 60th anniversary of living in exile in India at the end of this month. The Dalai Lama, along with his followers, fled to India from Tibet in 1959 in a massive uprising by the Chinese forces. China calls the 82-year-old Buddhist monk a 'separatist', seeking to secede Tibet from China.