Chinese experts have warned India not to further damage ties with China by encouraging Tibetan separatists because of the border row.
“India should properly manage ‘Tibet independence’ forces on its soil and avoid using them as a bargaining chip with China,” the state-run Global Times quoted unnamed Chinese experts as saying.
The warning came after the head of the Tibetan “Government in exile”, lobsang Sangay, hoisted a “Tibetan flag”, which China sees as a symbol of “Tibet independence”, beside Pangong lake in ladakh.
The Chinese daily said: “India has previously discouraged such ‘political activities’ by Tibetan separatists.”
“Sangay’s behaviour is likely to have the Indian Government’s permission or blessings,” Qian Feng, an expert at the Chinese Association for South Asian Studies, told the Global Times.
Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, added that this action by Tibetans “might worsen the situation and further damage Sino-Indian relations”.