Dalai Lama Arunachal visit: India should now honour its 'solemn' promises, says China

In wake of the growing tension between China and India over the Dalai Lama's impending visit to Arunachal Pradesh, China has categorically asked India to honour its solemn promises on Tibet-related issues.

"For some time, due to reasons known to all, the political foundation for China-India relations has been damaged, casting a shadow over bilateral relations and the boundary negotiations," China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said in a media briefing here.

"What is imperative now is for the Indian side to take concrete actions to honour its solemn promises on Tibet-related issues as well as the important consensus reached by the two sides on settling the boundary issue, in particular never again using the 14th Dalai Lama to undermine China's core interests, so as to create a good atmosphere for greater mutual trust between the two countries and proper settlement of the boundary question," he added.

His response came to a query on the fate of New Delhi's relationship with Beijing in the future.

Earlier, with Beijing issuing a stern warning that the Dalai Lama's visit will have a "negative impact" on the settlement of the border dispute, India stated that its policy towards Tibet and border issue with China remained unchanged.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Gopal Baglay said, "Let me make it absolutely clear that there is no change whatsoever in the Government of India's policy towards the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China."

China is opposed to the Dalai Lama, who it regards as a separatist, visiting Arunachal Pradesh, particularly Tawang.

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.