Needless Appeasement Of China's Reservations

The UPA Government's recommendation to all Cabinet ministers to refrain from attending a felicitation ceremony to honour the Dalai Lama for having received the highest civilian U.S. award recently is uncalled for and an act of unnecessary obsequiousness towards China's standpoint and reservations about the Dalai Lama's intentions. The function, being organised by the Gandhi Peace Foundation and the All Party Indian Parliamentary Forum For Tibet, is to congratulate the Dalai Lama for having received the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal a few weeks back. Countries like Australia, Canada, the U.S., etc. have lately refused to entertain China's diktats and kowtow to its belligerence by welcoming the Dalai Lama on their soil and treating him as a guest of honour by making their senior Government officials interact with him. India, after having repeatedly expressed its opinion of Tibet being an integral constituent of China, should not go any further to mollify the Chinese, and more so, after China's incessant claims over Tawang.