New Delhi, August 9
The Ministry of External Affairs here does not feel that the Chinese government has given false or wrong data on artificial lake in Tibet.
MEA’s China Desk has been giving the issue top priority for the last five days.
A senior official in the MEA told The Tribune that India and China were in touch with each other diplomatically both in New Delhi and Beijing and also keeping a close watch on the ground situation through a hotline in Spanggur (Ladakh) on India-China border.
Asked if the Chinese Ambassador had been “summoned” to the Foreign Office on this issue, the official said the envoy was away on a vacation for a month. When pestered whether the Chinese Charge D’ Affaires had been “summoned”, the official remarked: “This is not the way we deal with China”.
It is understood that there have been frequent interactions between the MEA and the Chinese Charge D’ Affaires here and the MEA’s perception is that the Chinese have been giving “valuable information” on the lake.
The official rebutted reported allegations about the Chinese feeding wrong information to India on the dimensions of the recently-formed artificial lake in Tibet and said it was a sensitive issue with a sensitive country and should not be trivialised.
Meanwhile, the Ministry’s spokesman said a four-member technical team had been constituted which would seek to inspect the landslide area and the artificial lake “as soon as possible” but was awaiting the necessary clearance from the Chinese to visit the lake site.
