Kalon Tripa: China should not dictate terms to India/ENG

2012. január 22./Phayul.com/TibetPress

DHARAMSHALA, January 22: Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay has urged China not to interfere in matters concerning the long-standing relationship between India and Tibet.

Speaking to the media in the Indian city of Kolkata on Friday, Dr Sangay further urged China to stop issuing advices to Indian authorities on whom they should meet and not.

"China should not dictate terms like that because India is a sovereign country; whatever India decides it's their matter. So, a counselor carrying a letter and interfering with whom the Governor of West Bengal meets, I think they should keep it to themselves," ANI quoted Dr Sangay as saying.

The de facto Tibetan prime minister was referring to an earlier incidence in December last when Chinese Vice Consul Yu Li met the West Bengal home secretary to hand over an official note urging West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan not to attend any programme addressed by the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan spiritual leader was in the city to attend a special gathering in honour of Mother Teresa at the invitation of the Missionaries of Charity.

Governor M K Narayanan ignored reservations and attended the gathering, while Indian political parties across the spectrum criticised China’s action following the incidence.

Dr Sangay was in the city to inaugurate the Tagore Centre for Transformative Education, named after India’s first Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore.

According to a report on tibet.net, Kalon Tripa, in his address, underlined the importance of education while emphasising on the promotion of social welfare services through the power of education.

Dr Sangay also engaged in programmes for education and women empowerment in the region’s most backward areas.

Kalon Tripa left Kolkata Saturday to visit the Tibetan Settlement in Miao, Arunachal Pradesh.