The Hindu : Front Page : ‘A thorn in India-China relationship’

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Friday, Apr 10, 2009
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‘A thorn in India-China relationship’

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: The continuing presence of the Dalai Lama in India “does not help” in its ties with China, according to Singapore’s elder statesman and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. In a dialogue session, under the auspices of Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diplomatic Academy, he said: “I do not see the Dalai Lama as a bargaining chip [for India] against China. … As long as the Dalai Lama is there [in India], there will be this thorn in their side. … 1959 [when he reached India] was a different year. And, in 2009, the configuration of world balances has changed. And, it is going to change in their [Chinese] favour over the next 50 years, provided there is no internal collapse.”

Answering questions from S.D. Muni, Professor at the Singapore-based Institute of South Asian Studies, Mr. Lee emphasised that the status of Tibet “is off the table”. On an intervention by dialogue moderator and Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh, Mr. Lee said China believed that the Dalai Lama’s reported acceptance of the status of Tibet “is not his true position.” In fact, the Chinese “need no interlocutor” to resolve the Tibetan problem. “They need time to bring up a new generation [of Tibetans]: speaking Chinese, thinking like them and integrating … into China.” Responding to India’s High Commissioner S. Jaishankar on the issue of rebalancing the world order, Mr. Lee said: “My guess is that they [the Chinese] would like to have in the Security Council only five permanent members [as at present].”

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