By Manish Chand, IANS
On Board Air India One : The Indian government Sunday cleared the air on the controversy about a recent function in New Delhi in honour of the exiled Tibetan leader Dalai Lama, saying there was no change in its stand on Tibet as it recognizes the Tibetan Autonomous Region as part of China.
“The Dalai Lama is in India as a revered religious leader. The Dalai Lama has told us he will not engage in any political activities and he has kept his word,” Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told reporters accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his two-day visit to Russia.
“We recognize Tibet as an autonomous region of China. That’s a stand the government of India maintains and will maintain,” he stressed.
“If somebody organizes a function which does not respect the government’s stand, we have problems. Representatives of the government were told not to attend the function,” Menon said.
A circular issued by Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrashekhar asked members of Manmohan Singh’s council of ministers to stay away from the Nov 3 function to felicitate the exiled Tibetan leader, who had returned from a visit to the US, on being honoured with the Congressional Gold Medal.
None of the ministers attended the function. Former prime minister I.K. Gujral and Bashitha Narain Singh, an MP of Janata Dal-United, were, however, present at the function.
In his stirring speech at the function, the Dalai Lama said the resolution of the Tibetan issue was crucial for “genuine friendship” between India and China.
After then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to China in 1988, the Indian government reiterated its decision not to allow the Dalai Lama to address any political rally or a public gathering in India.
New Delhi is extremely circumspect not to create any controversy that can cast a shadow over Manmohan Singh’s Beijing visit, likely in next two months.