India, China to discuss issues of conflict during ASEAN summit

New Delhi, Oct 23(ANI): Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on Friday said that that issues of conflict between India and China will be discussed during the bilateral meet between the leaders of both the countries on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Thailand.

"Well the bilateral relationship that we have with China will obviously be in focus during the forthcoming meeting between our Prime Minister and Chinese Premiere Wen Jiabao in Thailand. And this is a relationship that is, that has developed in many many areas in recent years," Rao said.

"It's also a relationship that is a complex one, you are aware of the outstanding issues that remain to be resolved between India and China and obviously in meetings of this nature especially the meetings between the leadership at the highest level there is an opportunity to address all these issues," she added.

Rising tensions were evident recently when China tried to block an Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan to Arunachal Pradesh and objected to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the state.

Commenting on the scheduled visit of Tibetan spiritual guru Dalai Lama in Arunachal Pradesh next month, Rao said: "I have said this before and the Government has said this before that His holiness, the Dalai Lama, is respected religious and spiritual figure."

"The Tibetan community in India is not expected to undertake any political activity, that is our consistent position. And we also said that Dalai Lama is free to travel anywhere in India," she added. (ANI)