Despite China queering the pitch on Arunachal Pradesh and going on record to oppose the Dalai Lama’s visit to the state, the Tibetan Government-in-Exile on Wednesday confirmed that there was no change in his plans. The Dalai Lama is slated to visit the 400-year-old Tawang monastery, one of the most popular Buddhist pilgrimage spots in Asia.

The visit assumes added significance in the backdrop of the Indian government forcefully reiterating its stand on Arunachal Pradesh, rejecting Beijing’s clamour of protest over the state being a disputed territory. There is also hectic activity at the headquarters of the Tibetan Government-In-Exile,where the preparations are already underway for the Tibetan spiritual leader’s much-awaited visit to the Tawang monastery. “ We are drawing up all his plans and finalising the details for the scheduled programmes of His Holiness for the next three months,” said an official at Dharamsala.

The Dalai Lama has recently returned from a trip to the US and Canada and there are reports that he had tried to mobilise the support of the White House for the Tibetan cause. Recently two emissaries of US President Barack Obama had visited him and assured him that the President would take up the Tibetan issue with China during his visit to Beijing in November 2009.

The Dalai Lama is set for a week-long tour of Japan from October 29. He will deliver a public talk in Tokyo on October 31 and will return to India on November 6. His other programmes in Japan, say sources in the Dalai Lama ‘s office at McLeodganj, include delivering discourses to his followers and participation in a disussion with Japanese scientists at the Ryogoku Kokugikan at Tokyo.

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