By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, December 27: Tibetan task force unit formed for helping find a solution to the Tibetan issue through negotiations with Chinese leaders has concluded its latest meeting on Tuesday in Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.
According to the official website of the Tibetan Government, the meeting, which began Sunday, December 23, discussed existing ties between Dharamsala and Beijing while mainly focusing on the results of the sixth round of Sino-Tibetan talks held in China from June 29 to July 5 this year.
This is the 14th meeting of the Task Force on Negotiations (TFN) since the unit was first formed in 1999.
The meeting, which lasted for two and a half day, was presided over by the Tibetan Prime Minister (Kalon Tripa) Samdhong Rinpoche.
The members of the TFN, including Kesang Y Takla, Kalon for the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR), Kalon Tempa Tsering, representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New Delhi, Kalon Ngodup Dongchung, Kalon for the Department of Security, Lodi Gyari, special envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen, Kasur Tenzin Geyche, secretaries of the DIIR are said to have attended the meeting.
The Envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama have over the years met six times with the Chinese counterparts since the direct contact between the two sides was re-established in year 2002 after it turned into a complete deadlock way back in 1994.
Following the sixth round of talks with the Chinese leadership, the special envoy of the Dalai Lama and the head of the Tibetan delegation Mr Lodi Gyari released a statement in which he described the dialogue process as having “reached a critical stage”. In the statement, Mr Gyari said, “We conveyed our serious concerns in the strongest possible manner on the overall Tibetan issue and made some concrete proposals for implementation if our dialogue process is to go forward.”
However, many observers view that the sixth round of Sino-Tibetan talk has not made any significant break through. There are others who doubt this kind of dialogue process with China will bring about any meaningful result, blaming largely on China for its lack of complete sincerity.
The latest resolution passed by European Parliament has also expressed regret “that the sixth Sino-Tibetan round of talks has brought about no results”. The resolution further “calls on the parties to make every effort in order to continue the dialogue and calls upon the Chinese government to engage in substantive negotiations taking into due consideration the demands of the Dalai Lama for autonomy for Tibet”.
Although there is no official announcement for the resumption of the next round of talk, indications point out that it will take on any time soon.
