Tibet talks to get one more push in China

CHANDIGARH:   Amid doubts recently expressed by the Dalai Lama over China’s willingness to resolve the Tibet impasse, a delegation of the Tibet-in-exile government left for China on Friday for eight rounds of talks.

Two envoys, Kasur Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, would represent the Dalai Lama for talks that will be held next week. The delegation headed by Gyari also includes three senior assistants.

According to an official release, the delegation would be in Beijing for a week as a follow-up to the 7th round of talks in July this year. The envoys had their final briefing from professor Samdhong Rinpoche, the exiled Tibetan prime minister, before leaving for Beijing.

The dialogue between the Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama representatives commenced in 2002 and has since had seven rounds of talks without much headway.

The Dalai Lama had been stressing that the Chinese should acknowledge the Tibet issue as a problem and favour autonomy for the Tibet region that includes three provinces currently under China.

So far, China has not acknowledged Tibet as a problem.

Recently, the Dalai Lama said the Tibetans have long been pursuing a solution to the Tibet issue mutually acceptable to the Tibetans and Chinese. “Unfortunately, the Chinese leadership had so far not responded positively to our overtures and does not seem interested in addressing the issue in a realistic way,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama has left for Japan on a 15-day tour.
b_ajay@dnaindia.net