New Delhi:
With just two days to go before the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, India has not decided if it will attend the function.
The Nobel Peace Prize is being conferred on Chinese dissident Liu Xiaboa, who is in jail. Members of his family have not been allowed to travel to Oslo to accept the prize on his behalf.
Chinese President Wen Jiabao lands in Delhi on December 15 for a three-day visit, and India is concerned about adding the Peace Prize to the list of irritants in the delicate Indo-Chinese relationship.
Beijing had issued a demarche to several countries demanding a boycott of the Peace Prize ceremony.
(Read: 19 Countries to miss Nobel Peace Prize ceremony)19 countries have indicated they will not attend the ceremony -they include China, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Egypt. 44 countries, including India, will be represented in Oslo, according to the website of the peace prize committee. However, sources in the government say the matter has not been decided.
The New York Times reports, "Geir Lundestad, the committee's secretary, said there will be an empty chair and a portrait of Mr. Liu on the podium as the rest of the glittery ceremony proceeds with speeches and musical interludes some, at Mr. Liu's request, by children's choirs."