New Delhi: The government has called the Dalai Lama the country’s honoured guest, but when the Tibetan spiritual leader visits Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday foreign journalists will not be welcome.
CNN-IBN learns the government has still not cleared the applications made by 36 foreign journalists for inner line permits required to enter Arunachal Pradesh. These include journalists from the BBC, Newsweek, and a French documentary team.
The Dalai Lama will be in Tawang, Arunachal, on Sunday. The foreign journalists were due to leave for Tawang on Saturday via Guwahati, but sources in the Ministry of External Affairs say their request for permissions are still under process
The Home Ministry will take a final decision on the journalists’ request under advice from the Ministry of External Affairs.
IANS reports the Tibetan leader will on Sunday inaugurate a museum and a library at the Tawang monastery and then address monks and priests.
It was through Tawang, a revered seat of Buddhism, that in 1959 the Dalai Lama escaped the Chinese to enter India.
IANS reports he will then visit the adjoining town of Bomdilla and Dirang on November 12, before leaving for state capital Itanagar on November 14. The visit ends on November 15.
China has raked up a controversy by asking India not to allow the Tibetan spiritual leader to visit Arunachal Pradesh. The mountainous state shares a 1,030-km unfenced border with China.
(With inputs from CNN-IBN and IANS)
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