Though Beijing warned that the Tibetan leader's visit will seriously damage bilateral ties, India has gone ahead to facilitate the visit and has deputed a senior government representative to assist the Dalai Lama
Just a week after holding their strategic dialogue to shore up bilateral ties, India and China once again faced off on Friday on the issue of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama's proposed visit to Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang monastery after eight years between April 4 and 13.
Though Beijing warned that the Tibetan leader's visit will seriously damage bilateral ties, India has gone ahead to facilitate the visit and has deputed a senior government representative to assist the Dalai Lama.
"China is gravely concerned over information that India has granted permission to the Dalai to visit Arunachal Pradesh," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang told media persons in Beijing. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of Tibet and objects to any visit by top leaders, officials and diplomats to the area. "China is strongly opposed to the Dalai visiting disputed areas," Geng said.
Geng even accused groups holding the Dalai Lama in high esteem of engaging in anti-China activities. "China's position on the eastern section of China-India border dispute is consistent and clear. The Dalai clique has long been engaging in anti-China activities and its record on the border question is not that good," he said.
Official sources here rejected Chinese statements, saying that the Tibetan spiritual leader was on his way to Arunachal for a religious trip. They said that New Delhi was surprised at Beijing's new-found "sensitivities" as the Dalai Lama has undertaken numerous such visits earlier.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju described it as a "behavioural change" on the part of Beijing because India is more assertive now. In December, China had expressed its anger at President Pranab Mukherjee hosting the Dalai Lama at Rashtrapati Bhavan with other Nobel prize winners. Last month, China had also opposed the visit of a Taiwanese parliamentary delegation to India.
The Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu, who last year switched loyalties to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), called on the Dalai Lama in New Delhi last October and officially invited him to visit the state.
China had earlier said that the border dispute between the two countries can be resolved if New Delhi accepts Beijing's claim over the Tawang region. Interestingly, Beijing doesn't consider the Aksai Chin region of Jammu and Kashmir a disputed site.
Experts here believe that despite Prime Minister Modi's cautious approach and attempts to avoid ratcheting up tensions, an assertive India aligning with the US and Japan is perceived as a threat in Beijing. Last week, Modi had deputed Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar to stabilise relations between the countries.
Referring to the Chinese white paper released earlier this year on Asia-Pacific Security Cooperation, Abhay Kumar Singh, Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA), concludes that Beijing has affirmed its regional ambitions and aims to shape the regional security agenda in the Asia- Pacific Region on its terms. It has also made it quite clear now that border dispute can be resolved if New Delhi accepts Beijing's claim over the Tawang region in Arunachal Pradesh.
Dai Bingguo, who served as the China's boundary negotiator with India from 2003 to 2013, told the Chinese media, "If the Indian side takes care of China's concerns in the eastern sector of their border, the Chinese side will respond accordingly and address India's concerns elsewhere." India has, however, rejected the proposal to concede the Tawang region. Interestingly, China refuses to consider that there is a dispute on the Aksai Chin area of Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir that it occupied during the 1962 war.
On shaky ground
Standoffs in India's Ladakh region in April 2013 and then in September 2014;
China vetoes blocking India's resolutions in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to get Pakistan-based terrorists Masood Azhar sanctioned
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, disregarding Indian sentiments
China objects to India's entry into the Nuclear Supplier Group
New Delhi also appears to be sending a message to Beijing that its support for the One China policy might no longer be unconditional
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