Foreign Correspondents Upset Over Not Being Allowed To Cover Dalai Lama's Visit To India

New Delhi, India (AHN) - Foreign correspondents in India are upset over India's refusal to allow them to cover Dalai Lama's visit to the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. The government informed foreign correspondents, who had applied for a special permission to travel to Arunachal Pradesh, that they will not be allowed to enter the state while the Dalai Lama is visiting.

The Dalai Lama will begin a five day visit to Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday.

This recent move of the government is being looked upon as an attempt to please China by not allowing extensive coverage of the visit. China claims virtually the whole of Arunachal Pradesh as its territory. India on the other hand, treats it as an integral part of the country.

Steven Herman, South Asia Bureau Chief of Voice of America News says it will achieve just the opposite.

"This controversy has generated more interest in the visit. If they have been trying to keep the coverage low, now they have given the event more publicity," he said.

Herman said he had put in his application for the special permission with the state of Arunachal Pradesh, which was then sent to the Ministry of External Affairs. After numerous phone calls, he learned that he will not be granted the permission to cover the visit.

"It's forcing us to cover the visit on second hand material," Herman said.

The Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) released a statement criticizing the government's stand.

Heather Timmons from the New York Times and president of the FCC says, "Despite numerous requests over the past few weeks, India's central government has not granted a single foreign journalist a permit to travel to the state of Arunachal Pradesh during the Dalai Lama's visit. Today we were surprised and disappointed to learn that permits issued by the state government to travel to Arunachal Pradesh during the visit were canceled by the central government."

The visit has already generated much controversy, with China accusing the Dalai of trying to damage Indo-China bilateral ties.

Meanwhile, United States Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero told journalists in New Delhi that the Dalai Lama is a religious leader and he cannot be stopped from traveling to carry out the role.