Chinese delegation to visit India amid Dalai spat

Amid the recent Sino-Indian spat over Arunachal Pradesh and the Dalai Lama's ongoing visit there, China's ruling Communist Party sent a high-level delegation to India on Monday.

A delegation of the Communist Party of China left Beijing for a visit to India, the official Xinhua news agency said in a brief report. The delegation is headed by Liu Qibao, member of the CPC's powerful Central Committee. 53-year-old Liu is also secretary of the CPC's Provincial Committee of Sichuan, bordering Tibet.

The CPC delegation has been invited by the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the report said. However, the report did not mention the recent verbal spat between China and India over Arunachal Pradesh or China's opposition to the 74-year-old

exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama's ongoing visit to the northeastern state. China has strongly objected to the Dalai Lama's visit and in recent days it has stepped up rhetoric claiming Tawang and whole of Arunachal as part of their country.

The CPC delegation will also visit Sri Lanka and Iran at the invitation of Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the Islamic Coalition Party of Iran, the report said. The CPC, the ruling party in China since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, regularly sends delegations abroad to cement party-to-party relations as well as to bolster Beijing's bilateral ties with other nations.