Author: Correspondent
Publication: NDTV.com
Date: December 8, 2010
URL: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/india-snubs-china-for-nobel-peace-prize-ceremony-71341
India has decided to ignore considerable pressure from China to attend the
Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo.
The Nobel Peace Prize is being conferred on
Chinese dissident Liu Xiaboa, who is in jail. Members of his family have not
been allowed to travel to Oslo to accept the prize on his behalf.
Beijing had issued a demarche to several countries
demanding a boycott of the Peace Prize ceremony.
Chinese President Wen Jiabao lands in Delhi
on December 15 for a three-day visit, and India was concerned about adding
the Peace Prize to the list of irritants in the delicate Indo-Chinese relationship.
However, government sources say that they've decided that the prize ceremony
cannot be considered a bilateral issue.
19 countries have indicated they will not
attend the ceremony -they include China, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Egypt. 44
countries, including India, will be represented in Oslo, according to the
website of the peace prize committee.
The New York Times reports, "Geir Lundestad,
the committee's secretary, said there will be an empty chair and a portrait
of Mr Liu on the podium as the rest of the glittery ceremony proceeds with
speeches and musical interludes some, at Mr Liu's request, by children's choirs."
