NEW DELHI — One party feels caught in the middle amid the heated clashes and the battle for public opinion between the Chinese government and pro-Tibet activists: India.
The crisis in Tibet has forced New Delhi into a difficult diplomatic balancing act that pits its improving ties with Beijing against its longstanding relationship with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who has made India his base of operations for more than half a century.
The Dalai Lama's presence, and that of the Tibetan government in exile, in the Himalayan city of Dharamsala has long been a source of friction between the two Asian giants. New Delhi's cautious solution has been to provide sanctuary to what the Beijing government insists on calling the "Dalai clique," but to demand that the Tibetans refrain from anti-China activities on Indian soil.
That fragile formula has come under increasing strain from the violent protests that have erupted in Tibet against Chinese rule and the bloody crackdown unleashed in response. India is now under competing pressure to speak out against the clampdown, on the one hand, and, on the other, to restrain some of the rhetoric and activities of Tibetan exiles here.
So far, critics say, India's official statements have been tepid.
The Foreign Ministry says it is "distressed" by the violence in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, and has called for the crisis to be resolved "through dialogue and nonviolent means." At the same time, it has reminded activists here that they, "while they are in India, are expected to refrain from political activities and those activities that affect our relations with other friendly countries."
On Wednesday, the Tibetan parliament in exile, fresh from a meeting in Dharamsala, converged here in the Indian capital and held a one-day fast to focus attention on the plight of those back in their homeland.
One parliament member, Youdon Aukatsang, urged India, as the world's most populous democracy, to take a stronger stand.
"They should strongly condemn what's happening inside Tibet. They haven't done that. This is a gross human rights violation," she said. "I don't expect them to take any covert action or anything like that, but at least [make] forceful statements. It's their moral duty."
