Chi should stop interfering in India?s interl affairs: Rijiju

From Our Correspondent
Itagar, April 1: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday asked Chi to refrain from meddling in the interl matter of India and said that the visit of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama to Aruchal Pradesh has nothing to do with the neighbouring country.
The Dalai Lama will visit Aruchal Pradesh from April 4 to 13 next.
“We are not interfering with the interl matters of Chi and the country should not interfere in our matters,” Rijiju, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs told reporters in the sidelines of an event here. He said, the visit of Dalai Lama is as per the wish of the people.
Beijing on Friday warned India of ‘serious damage’ to bilateral ties if it allows Dalai Lama to visit Aruchal Pradesh next week and asked New Delhi to make a ‘choice’. In its second warning to India in a month, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was seriously concerned about India’s decision to allow the Dalai Lama to visit Aruchal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as part of south Tibet. “We are seriously concerned about the news. On the eastern section of the Chi-India border, Chi’s position is clear and consistent,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told media here, responding to a question on the Dalai Lama’s upcoming visit to Aruchal Pradesh.
This is the second time this month Chinese Foreign Ministry has aired its objections to the Dalai Lama’s visit to the Himalayan state. Chi has protested to India last year also when New Delhi cleared Dalai Lama’s visit to Aruchal Pradesh. Last year, Chi also protested the visit of then American Ambassador to India Richard Verma to the area.
The India-Chi border dispute covers the 3,488 km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). While Chi claims Aruchal Pradesh as Southern Tibet, India asserts that the dispute covered Aksai Chin area which was occupied by Chi during the 1962 war.