Tibet govt says, address Tibet issue to resolve Indo-China border dispute

The Tibetan government-in-exile today said the border dispute between India and China cannot be resolved until the issue of Tibet is addressed first.

"The issue of Tibet is centrally linked to the long-standing boundary dispute between India and China. It would be a wishful thinking on the part of the two countries to hope for a lasting solution to their border dispute unless the issue of Tibet hangs in the balance," the Central Tibetan administration said in a statement here.

"In fact, there is no Sino-India border. Tibet is intertwined with the boundary problem between these two countries. There needs to be a political will in both India and China to resolve the boundary dispute." Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile (Kalon Tripa) Samdhong Rinpoche said.

He, however, said China had been all along more rigid on the issue.

The statement has came when the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is on a three-day visit to India.

On reported construction of tunnels by China in the western part of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), he said it was "a great security threat to the entire Indian sub-continent."

"Not only this, the China's construction of railway line extending to Nepal and near India's border in Sikkim was also a great threat to India," Rinpoche warned.

He said the Central Tibetan administration wants stable relationship between the two Asian giants as it would usher durable peace in the region.