New Delhi: The fresh round of India-China Special Representative talks, which were postponed in November after the Chinese protested the Dalai Lama's scheduled participation in a programme in New Delhi, will now be held on January 16-17 in the capital.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Ministry of External Affairs said the Indian delegation to the talks will be led by National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon while the Chinese delegation will be led by State Councillor Dai Bingguo.
"In addition to discussions on the India-China boundary question, the two sides will hold discussions on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest," the ministry said.
The 15th round of talks between the Special Representatives of India and China were to be held on November 28-29, 2011 in New Delhi but were postponed after the Chinese demanded that the Global Buddhist Congregation being held in New Delhi from November 28 be cancelled as Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama was scheduled to address it.
The Chinese are first said to have asked for the Dalai Lama's address to be cancelled and when New Delhi refused to oblige, they demanded that the event itself be cancelled, sources said.
New Delhi is believed to have told Beijing that India is a democratic country and there was no restriction on freedom of speech. Hence, China's demand could not be met.
Dalai Lama is a persona non grata with the Chinese government. The 14th round of talks had taken place in Beijing in November, 2010.
Comments
0 comment