China fumes over PM Modi-Dalai Lama talk, India gives befitting reply

New Delhi, July 8: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's phone call to the 14th Dalai Lama on his 87th birthday has left China fuming as it criticized the move by India. Beijing urged New Delhi to refrain from using the issue of Tibet to interfere in the internal affairs of China.

 

India, however, gave a befitting reply to China by underlining that it was a consistent policy of the Government of India to treat the Dalai Lama as an honored guest in the country and a respected religious leader who enjoys a large following in India.

 

 

"Conveyed 87th birthday greetings to His Holiness the Dalai Lama over the phone earlier today. We pray for his long life and good health," PM Modi tweeted on Wednesday. Notably, the Prime Minister wished him on his birthday last year as well. Apart from this, the Dalai Lama's supporters celebrated his birthday at Dharamshala where the Dalai Lama lives in exile.

 

 

On other hand in China, the Foreign Ministry opposed this development by India. Responding to PM Modi's greetings, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, "Tibet-related affairs are China’s internal affairs and brook no interference by any external forces. China firmly opposes all forms of contact between foreign officials and the 14th Dalai Lama."

Further, he said, "The Indian side also needs to fully understand the anti-China and separatist nature of the 14th Dalai Lama. It needs to abide by its commitments to China on Tibet-related issues, act and speak with prudence and stop using Tibet-related issues to interfere in China’s internal affairs." He also said the Dalai Lama is a political exile disguised as a religious figure who has long been engaged in anti-China separatist activities.

 

 

Witnessing such strong statement from Beijing, Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, dismissed China’s criticism over the prime minister’s call to the Dalai Lama. He said that the Dalai Lama was a respected religious leader who enjoyed a large following in India.

 

 

"The Prime Minister did speak to His Holiness last year also, it has been the consistent policy of the government to treat His Holiness the Dalai Lama as an honoured guest in India, a respected religious leader who enjoys a large following in India. And His Holiness is accorded due courtesies and freedom to conduct his religious and spiritual activities. His Holiness’s birthday is celebrated by many of his followers in India and abroad. The birthday greetings by Honourable Prime Minister to His Holiness on his 87th birthday, yesterday, should be seen in this overall context," he said.

Notably, India is also preparing to send out a strong message to Beijing, with visits of Dalai Lama to Ladakh as well as Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) later this month – the first tours by the octogenarian Tibetan Buddhist monks out of his residence at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh after he had to cancel all his public engagements in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.