NEW DELHI: A string of vaguely related events have strained India-China ties of late and on Friday, in unusually sharp words, Beijing warned New Delhi against a planned visit by the Dalai Lama to a disputed border state, saying it could impair peace and stability in the Himalayan region.

“We are seriously concerned about the relevant information,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang told a media briefing in Beijing. He was replying to a question about reports that India had granted permission to the religious leader to visit Arunachal Pradesh at the invitation of Chief Minister Pema Khandu.

According to reports from Beijing, Mr Lu said that bilateral ties could suffer “damage” and affect peace and stability of the border areas if the Dalai Lama visited the Indian state Beijing claims to be part of southern Tibet.

“China’s position on the eastern section of China-India border is consistent and clear. The Dalai clique is engaged in anti-China separatist activity and has very disgraceful behaviour on issues relating to China-India boundary question,” Mr Lu said.

The unacknowledged but visible aloofness surfaced at the recent BRICS summit when President Xi Jinping rebuffed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s criticism of Pakistan as a terror hub. Subsequently, rightwing nationalist groups began a campaign to boycott Chinese goods, which Beijing slammed as potentially harmful for India.

This week the US ambassador in Delhi paid a controversial visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which riled the Chinese. Next month Mr Modi will be in Japan to negotiate major civil nuclear deal with some defence agreements thrown in. Neither of these events will please China.

The Indian side was well aware of the severity of the Dalai Lama issue as well as the sensitivity of the China-India boundary question, Mr Lu said.

“Under such circumstances India’s invitation to the Dalai Lama for activity in the disputed areas between China and India will only damage peace, stability of the border areas as well as the bilateral relationship between China and India,” he said.

“We require the Indian side to honour the political commitment to Tibet-related issues and abide by the bilateral consensus on boundary question,” the spokesman said.

India also should “refrain from taking any action that may complicate the issue, do not provide any platform for anti-China separatist activities by the 14th Dalai Lama,” he said. “Only by doing so can we maintain sound and steady growth of the bilateral relations,” he added.

Asked about assertions by External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup that the Dalai Lama had visited the state in the past, Mr Lu said “making one mistake does not mean that you can make another mistake”.

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet and routinely objects to visits by the Dalai Lama, Indian leaders as well as foreign dignitaries. The border dispute covers the 3,488-km long Line of Actual Control.

On October 24, China took exception to the visit by Richard Verma, the United States envoy in India, to Arunachal Pradesh.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2016