Mr. llyumzhinov was received at the Gagal airport by Mr. Thubten Samphel, Secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations, Mr. Tashi, Representative of the Moscow based Tibet Cultural and Information Center, and Mr. Wangchuk Phasur, Joint Secretary, Department of Information and International Relations.
In addition to meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mr. llyumzhinov will meet with the Kalon Tripa, Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche and his Kalons and the Chairman of the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies among others.
Mr. Ilyumzhinov said his visit was to call on His Holiness the Dalai Lama. “We will request His Holiness to visit Kalmykia where our people have been waiting for eleven years for a visit by His Holiness. We wan t to convey our people’s respect for His Holiness the Dalai Lama”.
Mr. Ilyumzhinov said that his delegation is an indication of a harmonious existence of politics and religion in Kalmykia since it included Mr. Bembetov, Chairman of Parliament of Republic of Kalmykia, Bishop Zosimo of Kalmyk Russian Orthodox Church and Telo Rinpoche, a prominent Buddhist figure of Kalmykia.
” I have met Mr. Putin recently and he sends his greetings to His Holiness the Dalai Lama”, he added. He also told reporters here that he met with the highest Christian figure of Russia and that he has sent his greetings to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Telo Rinpoche told reporters that efforts are being made to seek help from Mr. Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, in attaining visa for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The President of Kalmykia has visited Dharamsala several times in recent years. Mr. Ilyumzhinov had earlier invited His Holiness the Dalai Lama for a visit to Kalmykia last year. The visit had to be cancelled later as the Russian Government denied visa to the His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
On April 12, 1993 llyumzhinov became the first elected President of the Republic of Kalmykia. On October 27, 2002, he was reelected for the third term.
