New Delhi: After a gap of over three years, Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama is in New Delhi on his five days official visit. He landed in the national capital after his month-long sojourn in Ladakh.
His visit to India comes at a time when China is in constant conflict with the United States over the Taiwan issue. China is leaving no stone unturned in flexing its military muscle around the island state. After US top official Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan sparked controversy and triggered a strong reaction from Beijing, now Taiwan is eyeing inviting Dalai Lama.
Commenting on Dalai Lama's visit to India, in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, Mumin Chen, the deputy representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Central in Delhi and professor of international politics at National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan, said, “People in Taiwan love Dalai Lama. Tibetan Buddhism is also popular in Taiwan and we have a good number of Tibetan Buddhists residing in Taiwan. There are lots of cultural exchanges, and people-to-people ties taking place between Taiwan and the Tibetan governments here in India. Dalai Lama is considered a peace-loving and also a very highly respected spiritual leader. We welcome him as he visits India”.
It is pertinent to note that Dalai Lama visited Taiwan in 1997, 2001, and 2009 but couldn’t carry on with the trips due to Chinese control and pressure. Earlier on Tuesday, the Tibetan spiritual leader had asserted that a time would soon come when Ladakhis would be able to visit Lhasa again. He also stated that Tibetans are seeking genuine autonomy rather than complete independence.
Further, commenting on the ongoing conflict between China and Taiwan, Mumin Chen said, “With China protesting against the US amid its official’s visit to Taiwan and conducting military drills around Taiwan, it is not only breaking the status quo but also intimidating and challenging. They want to force Taiwan to surrender and it is unacceptable. Taiwan is not 'unprepared' because we have lived under Chinese rule for decades. We are now aware of the situation and prepared but we want peace. We do not want war.”
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On being asked about China wanting to complete reunification with Taiwan by 2040, the diplomat said, “the majority of people in Taiwan do not like the unification agenda proposed by China because we have already seen what happened in Hong Kong".
Taiwan is a sovereign state; we enjoy our freedom and have our democracy. There is no reason for us to be forced to unite with another country. Nobody can force us and this is something, we want China to know,” he added.
Talking about India-Taiwan cooperation, Chen reiterated that Taiwan is one of the leading economies now and India has a huge market. “There is a huge potential for increasing cooperation, especially in terms of trade. Currently, the bilateral trade between the two countries is 7 million US dollars, which is less in comparison to India’s trade with other Asian countries”.
China has for long gained control over Taiwan and Tibet, and it's increasing every single day. Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan earlier this month has irked China to an extent that it warned Washington of ‘grave consequences.
Meanwhile, India has maintained that it opposes any unilateral change to the status quo over Taiwan. "We urge the exercise of restraint, avoidance of unilateral actions to change the status quo, de-escalation of tensions, and efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region," Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said earlier.
