Dalai Lama banned from entering Mongolia, says foreign minister

The Dalai Lama will no longer be allowed to visit Mongolia, the country's Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil said after the Tibetan spiritual leader's visit to the nation drew protests from China and caused suspension in talks of important loans.

The Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, fled into exile in India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against the Communist rule. China considers the Dalai Lama a separatist and believes that he is set to split the mainland. Hence, it routinely objects to different countries issuing invitation to him.

China's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said that it "attached importance" to the statements issued by the Mongolian diplomat and highlighted that it hopes Mongolia would "honour the commitment" it has made on the Dalai Lama issue.

On Tuesday, Mongolian newspaper Unuudur had carried remarks by the Foreign Minister stating that the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader will no longer be allowed to visit their country, not even on religious grounds. The decision was taken to make peace with China which was riled after the Dalai Lama's visit to Mongolia.

Mongolia's economy is reportedly heavily dependent on China and it cannot afford to rile China. The nations are reportedly discussing a $4.2 billion loan by China to deal with recession in Mongolia.

China had rebuked Mongolia earlier for allowing the Dalai Lama to visit the nation, however, the Mongolian Foreign Ministry said that the government was not involved in arranging his trip and that Mongolian Buddhists had planned the visit, according to Montsame news agency. Reports state that soon after the spiritual leader's visit to the nation in 2006, China had temporarily cancelled all flights between Ulaanbaatar and Beijing.

China had also warned Taiwan in September over a Taiwan legislator's invitation to the Dalai Lama to their nation. The mainland had also told Taiwan that if it allows the visit, the move will impact ties between the countries "severely."

China's response came after high-profile Taiwanese legislator Freddy Lim invited the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader to the island. Although Taiwan is self-ruled, China considers the territory its own and is apprehensive that the new government led by President Tsai Ing-wen may permit the Dalai Lama to pay a visit.