Dalai Lama Arunachal visit: China warns India of negative impact on bilateral ties

Beijing: Furious over India allowing the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh despite opposition from China, Beijing on Wednesday warned that this action will have a "negative impact" on bilateral relations between the two sides.

Media reports quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang, as saying in a press conference, "When the Indian side violated commitments on relevant issues, the Indian side insisted on arranging the visit of the Dalai Lama in the disputed section of the China-Indian boundary and indulged in provocative political statements. We have already expressed our solemn representations and it will, of course, have a negative impact on bilateral relations."

Kang added that Beijing will take "further action" to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and slammed the "provocative" statements of the Tibetan spiritual leader and "some specific Indian official" in an apparent reference to the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu.

"What India has done is violated the solemn commitment on Tibet-related issues and it also has a negative impact on the proper settlement of the territorial disputes between the two sides through negotiations," the spokesperson said.

China is opposed to the Dalai Lama, whom it regard as a dangerous separatist, visiting Arunachal Pradesh, particularly Tawang, as it considers the region as Southern Tibet.

Meanwhile, India has repeatedly said that no political colour should be attributed to the Dalai Lama's Arunachal visit, which it described as religious and spiritual.