Dalai Lama visit row: India firm on its stand, shrugs off China's warning

New Delhi: With China reiterating its warning to India over hosting Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in Arunachal Pradesh, New Delhi has asserted that its position on the matter, which is well known everywhere, has not changed in any way.

"The government`s position is well known and has not changed," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said in a press briefing that the Dalai Lama`s proposed visit to Arunachal Pradesh in April would cause serious damage to India-China ties.

"India is fully aware of the seriousness of Dalai issue and the sensitivity of China India border question. Under such a background if India invites Dalai to visit the mentioned territory, it will cause serious damage to peace and stability of the border region and China-India relations," he said.

The Dalai Lama had fled to India from Tibet in 1959 through Arunachal Pradesh, and has been running the Tibetan government-in-exile from Himachal Pradesh.

Beijing has on several counts repeated its displeasure over India inviting the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh in April, part of which China claims as its territory, and warned that his visit could result in a further straining of ties with New Delhi.

The Dalai Lama is scheduled to visit to Arunachal Pradesh on the invitation of the Chief Minister Pema Khandu.China considers the Dalai Lama a "splittist" who seeks to separate nearly a quarter of the land mass of the People`s Republic of China.