1962 war reminder silly, India has come a long way: Tharoor

Refusing to join issue with China over Buddhist spiritual leader Dalai Lama's [ Images ] visit to Arunachal Pradesh, India [ Images ] on Tuesday expressed hope that Chinese 'rhetoric' will stop after the Tibetan leader's trip comes to an end.

Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor [ Images ] also rejected as 'silly' -- the reminder about 1962 war by an anonymous Chinese scholar in a newspaper article there -- and underlined that India has come a long way since then.

"I am sure our Ministry (of External Affairs) will respond more officially. I don't wish therefore to personally increase the temperature on this one," Tharoor told reporters in New Delhi [ Images ].

He was asked to comment on the Chinese statement that it was 'strongly dissatisfied' over India allowing the Dalai Lama to visit "the disputed eastern section of the China-India border regardless of China's grave concerns" over it.

"As far was we are concerned, we have made our view very clear. Arunachal is a sovereign territory of India. India's territorial integrity is not negotiable. We are anxious to move on from this and hope that as the visit is coming to a close, so will the conversation and the rhetoric on the subject," Tharoor added.

With regard to comments of an 'anonymous' Chinese scholar, that India was forgetting the 1962 Indo-China war, Tharoor said the remarks were 'silly'. He termed the escalation of the situation, by the Chinese media, as 'irresponsible'.

He said, "India has come a long way since 1962. History does not repeat itself that easily."