The Telegraph
June 24, 2015
The iconic selfie taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chinese premier Li Keqiang during his recent visit to China was being hailed by western media as one of the most “power-packed selfie in history”. Soon after the prime minister shared this picture on Twitter, it garnered more than 2,200 shares within just two hours of posting.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “communicated” to China’s leadership India’s concerns over a decision by Beijing to block New Delhi’s attempts to get the UN to slap sanctions on Pakistan for the release of Mumbai attacks accused Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, senior officials said.
China’s decision came two days after New Delhi sent an unprecedented troop of senior politicians – including two top leaders from Arunachal Pradesh – to greet the Dalai Lama on his 80th birthday on Sunday.
Two Union ministers – Kiren Rijiju, who is from Arunachal, and Mahesh Sharma – and Nabam Tuki, the chief minister of the north-eastern state, were a part of the delegation of politicians who attended the celebrations in Dharamsala.
China claims Arunachal belongs to it, and calls the Dalai Lama a “secessionist,” while for India, Pakistan’s handling of Lakhvi’s trial represents a touchstone of Islamabad’s commitment to act against terror groups.
“In the case of China, this matter has been taken up at the highest political level,” foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in a statement this evening. “We also raised this bilaterally with the other members of the (UN sanctions) committee.”
Though Swarup did not offer details, “highest political level” is diplomatic jargon for the Prime Minister. Officials, however, suggested Modi may have sent his communication through the Indian mission in Beijing, and not in a telephone call to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
China, which has for the past four days been occupied with one of the nation’s biggest festivals, the Dragon Boat festival, has not publicly commented on either its UN decision or the Dalai Lama’s birthday celebrations.
India’s permanent representative to the UN, Asoke Mukherjee, had earlier this month written to the chair of the UN Sanctions Committee on al Qaida and “associated individuals and entities,” New Zealand’s Gerard van Bohemen, seeking an urgent meeting.
Lakhvi, a designated terrorist under UN resolution 1267 that the sanctions committee was set up to monitor, was released from jail in April by a Pakistan court, a decision that India at the time protested as a pointer to Islamabad’s lack of sincerity in combating terrorism.
Mukherjee sought the meeting to seek a censure against Pakistan, citing as evidence the money used for Lakhvi’s bail, because all financial assets and bank accounts of UN designated terrorists are required to be frozen by member-states. The sanctions committee consists of all 15 members of the UN Security Council – the five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members. India is not a member at present.
But China blocked a discussion on India’s proposal, arguing New Delhi had provided insufficient information to examine the case.
Indian officials said today that China’s decision represented an about-turn on a commitment the two nations made to each other during Modi’s visit last month. Modi, the officials said, had specifically asked China for support in combating “all” terrorism.
In the joint statement issued by Modi and Li after their meeting in Beijing, the countries agreed to respect each other’s “sensitivities,” a senior Indian official said.
But Chinese officials indicated that Beijing too could suggest that New Delhi had breached this shared commitment. Traditionally, ministers from the state of Himachal Pradesh visit Dharamsala on the occasion of the Dalai Lama’s birthday.
But on Sunday, Rijiju, the junior home minister, and Sharma, the tourism minister, attended the Tibetan leader’s birthday celebrations, as did Tuki. The decision to send Rijiju, an Arunachal MP,and the state’s chief minister is being read by China as a loaded message from India that it will not hesitate to underscore to Beijing its control of the north-eastern state both nations claim.
China has earlier protested visits by the Dalai Lama to Tawang in Arunachal, a part of the state it specifically insists on claiming. It has also objected to India’s Prime Ministers visiting Arunachal, including when Modi visited the state earlier this year.
