Five Italian lawmakers met the Dalai Lama Tuesday and discussed ways to pressure China to open talks with Tibetan officials who live in exile in northern India, the delegation’s leader said.
The lawmakers had a 45-minute meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader and attended a session of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, said Gianni Vernetti, president of the Italian Parliamentary Group for Tibet.
“We discussed initiatives for coordinating international pressure on China to open a meaningful dialogue with the Tibetan government-in-exile,” Vernetti told The Associated Press. The delegation, which arrived Tuesday, will be in Dharmsala for three days.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, and established a government-in-exile in this Himalayan town.
The pro-Tibet lobby group was formed in May 2002 by more than 160 Italian lawmakers, Vernetti said.
“The dialogue between the European Union and China was started on our initiative,” he said.
