By ALOKE TIKKU
McLeodganj (Dharamsala), March 9 – Envoys of the Tibetan government-in-exile will visit China later this year to negotiate an autonomous status for Tibet that allows Beijing to retain control over defence and external affairs while delegating other powers.
Professor Samdhong Rinpoche, the Kalon Tripa — the equivalent of Prime Minister — of the government-in-exile, said the fourth round of talks would be the first in the recent past that would have a “specific agenda” for discussion. “This meeting will be decisive” and could set the stage for resolving the dispute within a definite time frame, he added.
Representatives of the Dalai Lama’s government are learnt to have approached Nicholas Haysom and Yash Ghai of Hong Kong University to help them negotiate with China. Haysom was Nelson Mandela’s former legal adviser and played a leading role in negotiating the 2000 Arusha peace accord for Burundi and the recent Naivasha peace agreement for Sudan. Professor Ghai was associated with the negotiations that gave Hong Kong considerable autonomy after Britain returned it to China in 1997.
At the third meeting last year, the Chinese side had raised several questions on what the Tibetans really wanted. “There has also been some communication gap that will be cleared this time,” Rinpoche said. The reference was to their “non-negotiable” demand of seeking autonomy for Tibetans in Tibet.
“The Chinese thought we were seeking consolidation of Tibetan areas and eventually independence,” Rinpoche said, arguing that they wanted autonomy for all Tibetans. “Whether the Tibetans then wanted to be governed as one administrative entity or separately is something that can be looked at later.”
The comments came a day before protests and functions planned by Tibetan refugees across the world to mark the 49th Uprising Day.
In Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama will make a customary speech where he is widely expected to dwell on the negotiations with China, believed to be the only durable route to pave the way for the return of Tibetans to Tibet.
