At least China dears to speak out!!
BEIJING: The Chinese foreign ministry decided it was time to juggle with words to convey a stern warning to New Delhi after Indian foreign minister
S M Krishna chose to respond to a statement made by it earlier.
The war of words began this morning when Beijing expressed “strong dissatisfaction” over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh last week. It asked India “not trigger disturbance in the disputed region so as to facilitate the healthy development of China-India relations.”
After Krishna made his pitch, the Chinese foreign ministry tweaked its earlier statement to advise India “not stir up trouble” in what it regards as the disputed area of Arunachal Pradesh.
A few questions:
-
Were the Chinese emboldened by the fact that Singh avoided visiting Tawang, the area that Beijing has been claiming as its own for a long time?
-
Why did China wait for four days after Singh’s Arunachal visit to register its protest?
Beijing is usually very quick to protest whenever anyone behaves differently from its expectations on controversial issues like Arunachal Pradesh, Taiwan, Xingjian, Tibet and the Dalai Lama. For instance, it has questioned the decision of more than a dozen countries to grant visa to the Dalai Lama and even threatened them with trade action.
That the statement came on a day when Pakistani prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani landed in Beijing on his first visit to China as prime minister and immediately met the Chinese president and premier.
Is Beijing warming up to make an even louder protest against New Delhi’s likely move to permit the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh and possibly Tawang?
Arunchal Pradesh (South Tibet) border dispute between India and China
Informed sources said a Tawang visit will make the Dalai Lama even more popular among the Tibetans in China and cause additional headaches to Communist Party leaders in Lhasa.
The Prime Minister would have certainly garnered more votes if he chose to visit the shrine associated with the 6th Dalai Lama in Tawang. China’s claim on Tawang rests on the fact that it is the birthplace of the 6th Dalai Lama, who played an important role in the development of Tibetan culture.
But Singh apparently chose not to provoke the neighboring country by visiting Tawang. The question is whether New Delhi will allow the Dalai Lama to do so. Krishna raises pitch, China tweaks earlier statement on Arunachal, Saibal Dasgupta, TNN 13 October 2009, 08:58pm IST
