As the Dalai Lama prepares to visit Arunachal Pradesh amid China's opposition, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday in Cha-Am Hua Hin said he "explained" India's stand on the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader to his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao.
Singh said the issue related to the Dalai Lama also came up during his meeting with Wen and he told the Chinese Premier that the Tibetan spiritual leader is an "honoured guest" but the Tibetan refugees were not permitted to engage in political activities.
"Well all I can say is that I explained to Premier Wen (Jiabao) that the Dalai Lama is our honoured guest. He is a religious leader," Singh said while addressing a press conference before winding up his two-day visit here for ASEAN -India and East Asia Summits.
The Prime Minister said he discussed the issue during the dinner meeting with Wen last night. He also said he was not aware of the Dalai Lama's plan to visit Arunachal Pradesh. "I have explained this position to the Chinese leadership."
"We do not allow Tibetan refugees to indulge in political activities and as a proof of that last year we took resolute action at the time of the Olympics when there were reports that some Tibetan refugees might disrupt the process. And that's the position I explained to Premier Wen," he said.
On October 20, amid the Sino-India verbal spat over Arunachal Pradesh, China had said that it was "greatly concerned" by the Dalai Lama's planned visit to the state and had rapped him for indulging in "anti-China separatism."PTI
