After holding close door meeting with the Dalai Lama Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao Sunday flew back to Delhi

By Vijyender Sharma
DHARAMSALA: After holding close door meeting with the Dalai Lama Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao Sunday flew back to Delhi. There was no indication of the nature of the talks or its timing.
"Rao and the official (Gautam Bambawale, joint secretary, East Asia, in the external affairs ministry) accompanying her went back to Delhi," R S Gupta DC Kangra said.
Rao met the Dalai Lama as well as other high-ranking officials of the Tibetan government-in-exile, including prime minister Samdhong Rinpoche, during her Dharmshala visit. The weekend talks at the official palace of the Tibetan spiritual leader lasted about 90 minutes.
After the talks, Tenzin Taklha, joint secretary in the Dalai Lama's office said: "Issues of common interest were discussed at the meeting." He did not elaborate.

Reacting to the meeting, Chimme Choekyappa, private secretary to the Dalai Lama, said on Sunday: "We welcome all Indian officials and express our gratitude."

The timing of the meeting between the Dalai Lama and Rao, a former ambassador to China, comes days after National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon visited the Chinese capital as the prime minister's special envoy and met the Chinese leadership.

On Saturday evening, Rao and foreign ministry officials accompanying her visited the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, where a cultural programme was organised. "Rao was spellbound by the Tibetan culture and tradition. She also attended a dinner hosted by the government-in-exile in her honour. High-ranking officials of the administration, including Rinpoche attended," an official said.

India recognizes Tibet Autonomous Region as a part of China.
The Dalai Lama, who believes in the "middle-path" policy that demands greater autonomy for the Tibetans while accepting Beijing's sovereignty, is viewed by the Chinese as a "traitor" who is bent on splitting Tibet from China.

Posted by BIJENDER SHARMA on 3:45 AM. Filed under breakingnews, business, culture, education, feature, finance, gallery, technology, travel . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0