China likely to take up Dalai Lama with Menon

NEW DELHI: Foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon will travel to Beijing later this week for the third round of India-China strategic dialogue. He will also use the opportunity to put the finishing touches to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s official visit to Beijing scheduled mid-January 2008.

Though India’s position on Tibet is well known, it is likely to be brought up by the Chinese during Menon’s meeting with deputy foreign minister Wu Dawei.

Ever since the US Congress decided to honour the Dalai Lama with the congressional gold medal, the highest civilian award conferred by US lawmakers, the Chinese have been wary.

The Dalai Lama’s well-publicised visit to Capitol Hill was followed by his trip to Canada and a meeting in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Germany’s paid for this because when Merkel visited China, she was given a cold reception. In sharp contrast, French president Nicholas Sarkozy was greeted with business deals worth 20b euros by the Chinese. France had not entertained Tibet’s spiritual leader.

The pragmatic Chinese wanted to make the Germans realise exactly what Merkel’s meeting with the Dalai Lama had cost them.

The Chinese are worried that the Dalai Lama is again trying to steal the limelight and bring unwanted focus on Tibet. New Delhi has always regarded Tibet as an autonomous region of China.

This was so right from the beginning at a time India was ready to shelter the Dalai Lama when he left Tibet in the 1950s. Soon after the Tibetan spiritual leader returned to India, ministers in the UPA government were asked not to attend a felicitation organised by the Gandhi Peace Foundation. Beijing noted and appreciated this.

However, now that the Dalai Lama is publicly hinting at choosing his successor, the Chinese would like a reiteration of New Delhi’s position on Tibet, which will be reflected in the joint declaration at the end of the Prime Minister’s visit in January.

India is likely to ask for a similar reiteration of China’s position on Sikkim, though Beijing had by the mid-1990s come to acknowledge it as a part of India.

Despite frequent reports in the Indian media about the Chinese army’s incursions into the Indian territory, South Block has not often come out with harsh public statements against Beijing. This is because both sides realise that boundary demarcation between the two countries has not been finalised and the border remains “disputed”.

Menon’s talks with deputy foreign minister Wu Dawei this time will also focus on contentious issues such as border talks that have now reached the sensitive land-exchange stage. There has been little progress in the negotiations in the last few rounds. But now the two sides are looking to make more progress.

When national security advisor MK Narayanan visited Beijing ahead of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s trip in October, he found the Chinese much more accommodating and had privately hoped that the tricky boundary problem would now move towards a final resolution, which both sides want.

g_seema@dnaindia.net