New York, March 25 – The scheduled meeting between the Dalai Lama and Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari was canceled at the last minute, a move the exile Tibetan government suspects is taken under pressure from Beijing, according to an IANS report.
‘I feel India is bucking under the Chinese pressure,’ an official of the Bureau of the Dalai Lama was quoted by IANS as saying. The Dalai Lama was to call on the Indian Vice President on Monday. The meeting was planned at least two months before the unrest in Lhasa that led to the massive protests in other provinces of China.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Qin Gang said that India had clarified that the Vice President had no plans to meet the Dalai Lama, following a ‘rumour’ about such a meeting, the IANS reported. But India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday that Vice President Ansari would meet the Dalai Lama who is the Indian capital for two-week religious program.
The Dalai Lama told reporters earlier in a press conference following the Tibet unrest that India’s position on Tibet is “over cautious”.
‘Every Tibetan or lover of truth will feel hurt and angry at the insult hurled at the Dalai Lama by Beijing,’ the Tibetan official who did not wish to be named was quoted in a report by IANS.
Tempa Tsering, the Dalai Lama’s representative in New Delhi, however, thanked India for providing refuge to the Dalai Lama and his followers.
The IANS reported that Tempa Tsering “was, however, unstinting in slamming Beijing’s ‘lies’ about the Dalai Lama’s alleged involvement in the Tibetan violence…”
‘The riots in Tibet were spontaneous expressions of resentment against the policies of the Chinese government. It was tanked up anger that found expression in Lhasa,’ IANS quoted Tempa Tsering as saying.
In the wake of the unrest in Tibet, India reiterated its one-China policy, calling for a non-violent resolution of the Tibetan issue through dialogue.
The Dalai Lama, however, maintains that his meetings with world leaders should not negatively effect the the ties between China and the country concerned.
