Pope meet 8212; China factor to keep Kant away

NEW DELHI, OCT 29: There appears to be a China angle to the controversy over the Pope's prayer meet which Vice President Krishan Kant has...

NEW DELHI, OCT 29: There appears to be a China angle to the controversy over the Pope8217;s prayer meet which Vice President Krishan Kant has declined to attend.

The Vice President had been invited by the Church to preside over the gathering at Vigyan Bhavan for Pope John Paul II to meet religious leaders of all faiths on November 7. The Ministry of External Affairs did not consider it advisable for Krishan Kant to go to the function. Being a constitutional authority, the Vice President goes by what the Centre advises.

According to sources in the Ministry of External Affairs, it is the expected presence of the Dalai Lama at the function which has led the Foreign Office to exercise the veto. The Vice President was invited by the Church to preside over what has been described as an ecumenical meeting for the Pope to meet leaders of other religions.

Though the Dalai Lama has been given exile status, over the years the Government has tried to avoid giving official legitimacy to functions where he ispresent, given China8217;s sensitivity on the matter.

After the uproar on the PM8217;s letter in May 1998 to US President Bill Clinton citing China as a major factor for India8217;s nuclear explosions, and the statements by Defence Minister George Fernandes describing China as enemy number one, the Vajpayee government has tried to make amends.

As a result, the rhetoric is calmer today, even though China took a neutral stand on Kargil, despite the fact that the international community had by and large held Pakistan to be the guilty party. The Chinese government had received several Pakistani leaders including Parvez Musharraf in Beijing during Pakistani intrusion into Kargil. Its response to the recent military takeover in Pakistan is laid back and its military cooperation with Islamabad continues.

India has tried to get the relationship with China back on an even keel, and there have been several meetings between the experts of the two countries in recent months. The Joint Working Group met in April this year;there was a foreign office consultation in February, and the foreign ministers of the two nations met in Singapore. While the decision of the Foreign Office not to rub China the wrong way is obviously one factor for its advice to Kant, there could be another consideration for the stand it has taken.