Dalai Lama won't be invited to Mongolia again

The Dalai Lama visited Mongolia for the ninth time; the Ulan Bator allowed his visit "in the teeth of official Chinese opposition."

The Buddhist leader preached to thousands of supporters at the Gandantegchinlen Monastery in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

However, his four-day visit was expected to test the country's relations with China at a time it was seeking a critical aid from the powerful neighbor.

Mongolia stated the visit of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled monk, would be purely religious in nature and not include meetings with officials.

China protested his previous visits by briefly closing its border in 2002 and temporarily canceling flights from Beijing in 2006.

China views the monk as a separatist seeking to split Tibet from China and objects his visits to other countries.

A major China-Mongolia border crossing imposed new fees effective from 1 Dec'16 on commodity shipments.

The crossing in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia will charge vehicles 10 yuan transit fee or 0.1% of the cargo if it is over 10,000 yuan for passing through the border.

An additional charge of 8 yuan per ton for any goods China is delivering was also imposed.

India assured Mongolia it is sympathetic to the problems it is facing.

It conveyed it would help the country utilize the $1 billion financial aid it offered in 2015 to "tide over" the economic sanctions imposed by China following the Dalai Lama's visit.

MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said they are closely working with Mongolia's government to implement the credit line in a beneficial manner.

India is careful to "steer clear" of the China-Mongolia spat.

It mentioned the Mongolian crisis "owes as much to its debt-servicing problems as to other factors."

Mongolian ambassador Gonchig Ganbold said India's silence "could be construed as giving China a pass for its behavior."

Meanwhile, Chinese state media warned Mongolia it's "politically harebrained" to seek India's help as it would further complicate bilateral ties.

After Dalai Lama's trip to Mongolia in November angered China, the Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil said that he will not be invited there again.

Beijing postponed its meetings with Mongolian officials and imposed new fees on commodity shipments after his visit there.

This led to the minister saying, "The Dalai Lama will not be invited to Mongolia, even for religious reasons."