[Buddha-l] Dalai Lama free to visit Arunachal: Ext. Affairs Minister Krishna

[JKirkpatrick]

"'If the Dalai Lama, who is staying here for the last 50 years,
is visiting any part of the country why does this bother China?'
he said."

http://tinyurl.com/mflhnd 
Dalai Lama free to visit Arunachal: Krishna 

IANS First Published : 16 Sep 2009 

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Wednesday
dismissed China's objections to the Dalai Lama's proposed visit
to Arunachal Pradesh later this year, and said that the Tibetan
leader is "free to go anywhere in India".
"Arunachal Pradesh is a part of India and the Dalai Lama is free
to go anywhere in India," Krishna told IBN7 news channel here.
"The only question is that he is not expected to comment on
political developments," Krishna said.
The Dalai Lama has sought the Indian government's permission to
visit Tawang, a monastery town in Arunachal Pradesh, which is
claimed by China.
Tibet's exiled leader plans to go there in November to inaugurate
a hospital for which he had donated Rs.20 lakh ($40,000).
China has voiced "strong concern" over the proposed visit saying
it "further reveals the Dalai clique's anti-China and separatist
essence".
"We firmly oppose Dalai visiting the so-called Arunachal
Pradesh," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu.
Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister of the Tibetan
government-in-exile headquartered in Indian town of Dharamsala,
rubbished Beijing's objections to the Dalai Lama's visit.
"Arunachal Pradesh and its Tawang region are an integral part of
India. If the Dalai Lama, who is staying here for the last 50
years, is visiting any part of the country why does this bother
China?" he said.  "If the Dalai Lama goes to Chinese territories
it can raise objection, but in this case it has no business to
interfere," he added.

...China's objections to Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh
comes amid reports of Chinese incursions into the Indian
territory which have revived the spectre of the China threat.
India cited Chinese threat as its primary reason for going
nuclear in 1998. Since then, the two countries have expanded
their political and economic ties and are now trying to resolve
the decades-long boundary dispute with negotiations.