Published by: World Tibet Network News 96/04/03 24:00 GMT

NEW DELHI, April 3 (Reuter) - India signalled displeasure on Wednesday over Chinese missile tests off the Taiwanese coast last month without naming its bigger neighbour, with which it fought a border war more than 30 years ago.

It was the first Indian reaction to the tests.

"The only comment I can offer is that we should restrain the demonstration of more and more sophisticated weapons," Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told foreign correspondents in response to a question seeking his views on China's tests.

Indian officials offered no comment when Beijing staged the tests that rattled the Pacific region, saying New Delhi did not recognise Taiwan.

China staged three rounds of war games close to Taiwan between March 8 and 25 in an attempt to intimidate voters before the island's first direct presidential election on March 23.

New Delhi has recently tried to mend its relations with Beijing by easing off a decades-old border dispute and reviving border trade across the Himalayas suspended since 1959. The two fought a brief border war in 1962.

Mukherjee ruled out political support to Tibetan refugees, some 100,000 of whom live in India under the leadership of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

"We consider it (Tibet) an integral part of China," Mukherjee said. "No country should interfere in the internal matter of any other country."

REUTER