India likely to attend Nobel ceremony,seeks to delink it with Wens visit

India on Tuesday sought to delink New Delhis presence at the event from Chinese premier Wen Jiaobaos state visit later this month.

Two days before the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony,India on Tuesday sought to delink New Delhis presence at the event from Chinese premier Wen Jiaobaos state visit later this month.

China has issued demarche to all sovereign governments including India asking them not to participate in the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobao on Friday in Oslo,Norway.

As of now,Indian presence has been confirmed by the Nobel committee though a decision on not attending the ceremony can be taken later. Normally,the Indian ambassador in Oslo attends the ceremony.

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But sources said that while Indias attendance in the ceremony should not be linked to the Chinese premiers visit from December 15 to 17,New Delhi is keeping a close watch on the situation. South Block,sources said,doesnt want the decision to attend the ceremony to cast a shadow on Wen Jiaobaos visit next week. This is not a bilateral issue, a South Block source told The Indian Express.

India is among 44 countries which have confirmed their participation so far,Torill Johansen,Secretary in the Nobel Committee Staff,told news agencies in Oslo. According to the Committee,44 embassies have indicated that they will be represented at the Ceremony,two (Algeria and Sri Lanka ) have not replied,and 19 have for various reasons declined our invitations.

CHINAS PROTEST

China has protested the Nobel Committees decision to award the Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobao.

It calls Liu Xiaobo a criminal who has been sentenced by Chinese judicial departments for violating Chinese law.

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Liu is serving an 11-year jail term on subversion charges for his role in advocating democracy and multi-party rule.

ON ABSENT LIST

Nineteen countries have confirmed they wont attend the prize ceremony,including Russia,Kazakhstan,Columbia,Tunisia,Saudi Arabia,Pakistan,Serbia,Iraq,Iran,Vietnam,Afghanistan,Venezuela,the Philippines,Egypt,Sudan,Ukraine,Cuba and Morocco.