Border-dispute talks between Indian and Chinese diplomats, scheduled to take place on Monday in New Delhi, have been called off after Beijing objected to a planned speech by Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama. An Indian Foreign Ministry official said Sunday that the meeting between Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo and Indian National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, was cancelled.
Although the official declined to elaborate further, Indian media outlets, citing government sources, said Beijing had wanted India to stop the Dalai Lama from addressing a Buddhist convention in the coming days.
India refused, saying the Dalai Lama was free to speak on spiritual matters, the Times of India newspaper reported.
China accuses the Dalai Lama of being a separatist who is inciting violence in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The Dalai Lama says he merely wants greater autonomy for Tibet within China.
The Dalai Lama fled to India's northern town of Dharamsala in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule and founded Tibet's government in exile.
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