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New Delhi: India joined a chorus of calls for dialogue on Sunday after pro-independence protests in Tibet spilled over into street violence, while Japan urged Beijing to consider the implications on the Olympic Games.
Calling for calm, Japan's Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said: "I ask that the Chinese government give thorough consideration so that the Olympics will not be affected."
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said in an editorial that "China's tough response with power is against the Olympics spirit to promote world peace".
A spokesman for India's Ministry of External Affairs was quoted as saying in the Hindustan Times that reports of the "unsettled situation and violence in Lhasa, and by the deaths of innocent people" were distressing.
"We hope that all those involved will work to improve the situation and remove the causes of such trouble in Tibet, which is an autonomous region of China, through dialogue and non-violent means," Navtej Sarna said.
Indian police this week arrested Tibetan protesters trying to march to the Chinese border.
Indian ire
New Delhi is treading a delicate balance with its giant neighbour with whom it is trying to expand diplomatic and trade ties after decades of rivalry that included a brief war in 1962.
A major irritant is that India plays host to the Dalai Lama in the Indian city of Dharamsala, where the self-proclaimed Tibetan government-in-exile is based and scene of daily protests in the past week.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged China's government to show restraint in Tibet and called for dialogue, echoing similar pleas from Europe and Australia.
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