India rebuffs China on Dalai, but wants peace on border issue

Hua Hin (Thailand): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday rebuffed Beijing over its opposition to the Dalai Lama's planned visit to Arunachal Pradesh while declaring that he and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao have agreed to maintain "peace and tranquility" along their disputed border.

In his first public comment since China came out strongly against the Tibetan spiritual leader's November trip to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, a state Beijing claims, the prime minister described the Dalai Lama as a religious leader and India's "honoured guest".

At a press conference at the end of his hectic two-day visit to Thailand, Manmohan Singh said he was not aware of the travel plans of the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959.

"I have explained this position to the Chinese leadership... I explained to Premier Wen that the Dalai Lama is our honoured guest. He is a religious leader," Manmohan Singh said.

"(But) we do not allow Tibetan refugees to indulge in political activities. As a proof of that, last year we took resolute action at the time of Olympics when there were reports that some Tibetan refugees might disrupt (the Olympic torch relay)."

Manmohan Singh's comments followed his formal delegation-level discussions with Wen Saturday morning on the sidelines of the India-ASEAN Summit. But he quickly added that the talks over the Dalai Lama took place at a dinner hosted by the Thai prime minister Saturday night.

Manmohan Singh said he had "frank and constructive exchange of views" with Wen at both the interactions Saturday - the first meeting between the two leaders since they met in New York in September last year.

"The premier and I reaffirmed the need to maintain peace and tranquility on the border pending the resolution of the boundary question. Both of us agreed that we should continue and strengthen efforts to build political trust and understanding.

"We ... agreed that existing mechanism for bilateral cooperation should be used to resolve all issues amicably in the spirit of strategic and cooperative partnership. The Chinese foreign minister will be visiting India in two days and the foreign ministers (of India and China) will have an opportunity to discuss all issues which have a bearing on our relationship.

"We both agree that the boundary question is a complex question and that pending the resolution of the boundary question we both have an obligation to maintain peace and tranquility along the border.

"One doesn't have to go to the media to accentuate or exaggerate the amount of differences that prevail."

Manmohan Singh said he raised with Wen the reported issue of a dam being built on the Chinese side of the Brahmaputra, an issue that has generated fears of water scarcity in India's northeast.

"I conveyed to him that cooperation in the area of trans-border rivers is of mutual benefit... He said that relevant discussions on trans-border river issues could be held through the expert level mechanism that we have constituted."

But the prime minister said he did not raise the issue of Arunachal Pradesh or the issue of visas to people of Jammu and Kashmir on separate papers. "Whether it is Arunachal or Jammu and Kashmir, they are integral parts of our country."

On the Commonwealth Games: Manmohan Singh admitted to some delays in the execution of projects, but said that mechanisms now in place will work effectively and visitors "will see a spectacular show" in October 2010.

On Maoism: I have stated repeatedly that the Naxalite problem has emerged as the biggest internal security threat. Both the central and state governments have an obligation to take effective steps to control the problem.

Kashmir: It is our desire to engage all sections of political opinion in Jammu and Kashmir to find practical, pragmatic solutions to the problems facing the state... I have already had two-three meetings with the Hurriyat people. They promised to come back with specific suggestions. I am still waiting for them.

Monetary policy: Monetary policy is the preserve of the Reserve Bank of India. I am satisfied that both the monetary and fiscal policies in our country are in line with our requirements.

On union minister A. Raja: It is not proper for me to join issue with a cabinet colleague in public.

Myanmar: The next year's elections should see a reconciliation of the various segments of the Myanmar society.

New Zealand opt to bat against India

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori won the toss and opted to bat against India in the second One-day international of the Compaq Cup tri-series at the Premedasa Stadium here Friday.

Teams:

India: Sachin Tendulkar, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma.

New Zealand: Jesse Ryder, Brendan McCullum (wicketkeeper), Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliot, Jacob Oram, Neil Broom, Daniel Vettori (captain), Kyle Mills, Ian Butler, Shane Bond.

Umpires: Kumara Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and Billy Doctrove (West Indies)

TV umpire: Gamini Silva (Sri Lanka)

Match referee: Chris Broad (England)

India, Nepal air pact to open up sky

Air connectivity between India and Nepal is poised for a tremendous leap with the two neighbours inking an air pact that boosts weekly flight seats five-fold and opens 10 new destinations.

India and Nepal have revised their Air Services Agreement (ASA) after 12 years to keep pace with the rapid developments in the aviation industry since then, consenting to allow each other to operate 30,000 seats every week instead of the previous 6,000 seats.

In addition, Nepal can now fly to 21 destinations in India. While flights had been approved to New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Bangalore and Varanasi earlier, now other Indian cities like Goa, Amritsar, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi can also be accessed.

The new destinations include three Indian towns with sizeable Nepali and Nepali-origin populations: Bagdogra, Dehradun and Gorakhpur.

Nepal has reciprocated by opening seven new towns to India: Pokhara, Lumbini, Biratnagar, Nepalgunj, Janakpur, Dhangadhi and Bhairahawa.

However, though the agreement comes into effect immediately, the new destinations would not be viable for some time since those in Nepal don't have international airports. Nepal's sole international airport is in the capital city Kathmandu.

But the government has announced it would build an international airport in Lumbini and a regional one at Pokhara keeping in mind its plan to draw one million visitors in 2011.

The revised ASA was signed in New Delhi Thursday after a two-day meeting Sep 8-9.

The Indian delegation was led by M.M. Madhavan Nambiar, secretary at the ministry of aviation, while the Nepali side was headed by his counterpart Nagendra Prasad Ghimire.

However, the revised air pact, while boosting trade and tourism, has not fully satisfied India on the security front.

India is yet to get Nepal to agree on the deployment of sky marshals on flights operated by designated airlines.

The request was made after the hijack of an Indian Airlines aircraft heading towards New Delhi from Kathmandu in December 1999, an incident that even now continues to haunt India's Bharatiya Janata Party that led the federal government at that time.

However, Nepal has been sitting on the proposal following adverse reaction from some of the political parties.

The Nepali delegation said it had taken note of the request, which was already before the appropriate government authority.