It's something to remember as New Delhi welcomes Sheikh Hasina, says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
The United States on Thursday asked China to have substantive talks with the representatives of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, without any "pre condition", and called on the Chinese leadership to permit Tibetans to express their grievances freely.
Ahead of the Parliament session, beginning Monday, the government is apparently aiming to build a consensus to deal with its biggest neighbour as well on Kashmir issue.
After the Ladakh fiasco where Xi Jinping did not expect the Indian Army to resist his land-grabbing tactics, he has to save face before his colleagues in the Communist party.' To bring the threat of a mega-dam to the northern Indian border is a clever move, observes Claude Arpi.
Special envoys Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen said they have told Chinese officials during the two-day talks in Beijing that continuing the parleys on the Tibet issue will serve no purpose until the Communist country takes "tangible" measures. The Dalai Lama was "disappointed" on the outcome of the latest Beijing talks, the duo said in a statement in Dharamsala.
In the fourth such incursion since March, two helicopters of the People's Liberation Army of China hovered for about five minutes in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district and "could have carried out aerial photography of Indian ground troops," according to official sources in the government.
Slamming the Dalai Lama for conducting prayers for the Buddhist monks who had immolated themselves protesting Chinese rule in Tibet, China on Thursday said his support amounted to backing "terrorism in disguise".
China on Wednesday criticised United States President George W Bush's high-profile meeting with the Dalai Lama, saying that Washington's bid to meddle in its internal affairs was doomed to fail. Terming the meeting as "gross interference in China's internal affairs", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said it has severely violated the basic norms of international relations and hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.
'The Bharat Ratna should have been given a long time ago. Not just to irk the Chinese, but to recognise His Holiness for what he is and how we have benefited immensely from his presence in India.' 'I don't think there's been a better ambassador for India's philosophical and cultural past than the Dalai Lama.'
According to reports, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping as Head of State of a country with which the UK has diplomatic relations.
The Dalai Lama is 84 years old now and the issue of his successor has gained prominence in the last couple of years in the wake of his health issues.
'When Modi was having his maiden meeting with Donald Trump, China is up to its old tricks again, by causing a distraction on the Doklam plateau,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Hinting that he was planning to retire, the Dalai Lama has said he has 'given up' on efforts to convince China to allow greater autonomy for Tibet after having led the Tibetans' struggle for half a century.
China said it was committed to peace and tranquility at the border areas.
Claude Arpi looks at the issues that challenge Sino-Indian relations.
An outbreak of a pneumonia-like illness that started in the city of Wuhan in China has put health authorities on high alert around the world. The new coronavirus-named 2019-nCoV-is thought to have originated in the food market of the central China metropolis and has since infected more than 4,000 people worldwide.
The rumblings from the Tibetan areas of China continue. The more the Chinese suppress, the more the Tibetans protest. The more the Chinese demonise the Dalai Lama, the more the Tibetans respect him.
India on Sunday opened a third hotline in view of 'large number' of phone calls from the Indians who are mostly students, the Indian Embassy in Beijing said.
Sources said that even though India and China have been talking at the diplomatic and the military level for over six weeks now, there has been no thinning down in troop numbers or equipment by the Chinese side on this front.
India's 'high-calibre satellite' imagery has not shown diversion of Brahmaputra waters by China, official sources said in New Delhi on Thursday responding to criticism that government was turning a 'Nelson's eye' to reports of massive construction plans by Chinese authorities.
Ma Jaili also said that if India returns Tawang, a sacred place for Tibetan Buddhists, the Chinese side could be "magnanimous" in settling the border in the Western and Middle Sectors of the disputed boundary.
Why omit the Tiananmen massacre from the history of China's Communist party, asks Claude Arpi.
Even senior Indian officials have openly stated that Chinese troops did not enter into the Indian territory, Wang said.
A preliminary survey has found that Sengge Zangbo town in Ngari Prefecture, western Tibet, may be an ideal place to launch the world's largest and most advanced telescope with a calibre up to 100 meters.
'Vijay Gokhale's appointment as foreign secretary can be regarded as a certain 'adjustment' that could make a difference to the poor climate of India-China relations,' says Ambassdor M K Bhadrakumar.
An official spokesman said in response to a question in New Delhi that the pilgrimage would now commence from June 13 with batch number three scheduled to leave from New Delhi and efforts were being made with the Chinese authorities to accommodate the pilgrims of the first two batches in the following ones.
However, Denmark said it is difficult to conclude on the real intention behind this.
China has no plans to build a mega dam over river Brahmaputra in Tibet as it is well aware of the concerns India and Bangladesh have in this regard, a senior academic attached to a state-run think tank said on Wednesday.
India on Wednesday delivered a strong message to China that the 'unprecedented' incident in the Galwan Valley will have a 'serious impact' on the bilateral relationship and held the 'pre-meditated' action by Chinese army directly responsible for the violence that left 20 Indian Army personnel dead.
This is the third round of Corps Commander-level talks being held. The first two rounds had taken place in Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC.
"After the tri-junction in Doklam in the Sikkim sector, this is the most important tri-junction along the Sino-India border."
'Both have a very nationalistic view of foreign policy.' 'They think they are shrewd and clever diplomats.'
'In view of the requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks, the relevant department of the central government will have contact and consultation with Dalai's private representative in the coming days,' Xinhua news agency said quoting an unnamed official.
Rawat had said there was a major reduction of Chinese troops in the Doklam area.
"We express strong condemnation of the deliberate disruption of the Olympic torch relay by 'Tibetan independence' separatist forces regardless of the Olympic spirit and the law of Britain and France," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said. China's response came as the Beijing Olympics flame was extinguished 4 times in Paris on Monday during anti-China protests by Tibetan activists who tried to disrupt the relay run, forcing officials to bring it on board a bus.
Advani had said that during his visit in April, Fernandes had raised the issue of the alternate route to Mt Kailash via Leh and that China had rejected this suggestion.
As of now, in the case of China's border dispute with India, China is not likely to lose much if it does not resolve the dispute. In fact, the unresolved border dispute has much to offer to China, says Sana Hashmi.
The Chinese and the Indian troops were engaged in a standoff for 73 days in Doklam.
China has ruled out talks with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, unless he renounces his quest for Tibetan independence.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances