Agencies 

ITANAGAR, Apr 1: China should refrain from meddling in the internal affairs of India, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday said after Beijing objected to the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh next week.

The Dalai Lama will visit Arunachal between April 4 and 13.

 "We are not interfering in the internal matters of China and that country should not interfere into ours," the Minister of State for Home Affairs told reporters here.

 He said, the visit of the Dalai Lama was as per the wish of the people.

 China had on Thursday said that India allowing the Tibet's exiled leader to visit Arunachal will cause "serious damage" to bilateral ties and had asked New Delhi to make a "choice".
In its second warning to India in a month, the Chinese Foreign Ministry had said it was seriously concerned about India's decision to allow the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as part of south Tibet.

An unfazed Dalai Lama arrives  at Guwahati

 GUWAHATI: Unfazed by Beijing's repeated warnings to India to cancel the Dalai Lama's upcoming visit to Arunachal Pradesh, the Tibetan spiritual leader brushed aside these talks and kicked off his 12-day trip to northeast here on Saturday.

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama arrived in Guwahati on Saturday and was received by Assam Transport minister Chandramohan Patowary and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu at Borjhar International airport.

 "All these things are normal," the Tibetan spiritual leader remarked with his trademark smile when told that Beijing is not happy with India for allowing this trip. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesmanon Friday warned for the second time in one month that Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh will "have serious damage on bilateral relations."

The Nobel laureate started with a public talk on "A Human Approach to World Peace" on a rain-drenched Saturday afternoon here amid a tight security arrangement after the anti-talk Ulfa (I) appealed him not to speak anything against China in public or in private.

He will attend Namami Brahmaputra festival here on Sunday after addressing students at Gauhati University. On Monday, he will address a gathering at Dibrugarh University in upper Assam before leaving for Lumla near Tawang the next day to consecrate a new Buddhist temple there. He will stay at Tawang, just 25 kilometres away from the McMahon Line that demarcates the imaginary boundary between India and China, till April 7. China claims this land as part of its territory.
After giving teachings at Dirang on April 10 and Bomdila on April 11, the place from where the Chinese army retreated in 1962, he will head towards the state capital at Itanagar where he will wind up his trip on April 12.

 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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