Reitrating that Arunachal Pradesh is an “inalienable” part of India, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao today made it clear that the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is free to visit any part of the country.

The proposed November trip to Arunachal will be the Dalai Lama’s fifth visit to the state, the last one was in 2003.

Rao, in an interview to All India Radio, said: “We regard and we have always said this clearly and also to China that His Holiness Dalai Lama is a spiritual figure, he is a religious figure, and he does not indulge in political activities on Indian soil and he is our guest in India and he is free to visit any part of our country.”

China has objected to the proposed visit.

Referring to the recent exchanges between the two countries, she said: “I can say it with all honesty both governments are convinced that there is no other way to resolve this without dialogue. One has to resolve it through dialogue. I remember our first late Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, speaking to Parliament in 1962 saying, ‘We cannot march to Peking,’ and I am quoting his words.”

Reaffirming India’s position on Chinese objections to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Arunachal, the Foreign Secretary said: “Of course, we take this (Beijing’s objections) seriously, and we have been very, very particular and very clear and unambivalent in expressing our position to the Chinese. In that way, we have said that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India, it is an inalienable part of India.”

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