By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, September 16: The Tibetan parliament, currently holding its eighth session, has expressed hopes that China will learn the ideals of democracy from India which enjoys Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Movement, Freedom of association and many other freedoms as Chinese president Xi Jinping begins his India visit tomorrow.
The Tibetan parliament deliberated on Xi’s visit as announced in his opening address on Saturday.
“It is important to show our collective expression against China’s ongoing policies in Tibet but whatever expression we demonstrate, it should be under the and we must ensure that this concern of ours about the grave situation inside Tibet is made known to Xi. However, all activities should be under the guidelines of the Tibetan cabinet. It should not hurt Xi Jinping as an individual and should not cause trouble to India.”
“We should remain hopeful in our struggle, the day we stop being hopeful the struggle will come to an end.”
This is Xi’s first visit to India since he became the President of China a year ago. Xi arrive kick off his visit from Ahmedabad and head for Narendra’s Modi’s birthplace on September 17, and then head to New Delhi before flying back on September 19. Last month, it was reported that Xi is expected to talk about the existence of Tibetan government in exile and role of the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama in India.
TPiE has also submitted an appeal letter to Xi Jinping through Chinese Embassy in New Delhi urging to send a delegation of Tibetan parliamentarians from exile to find out if China has really lived up to its claims on Tibet’s development and happiness. However TPiE has not received any response so far.
Tibetan Prime Minister Dr Lobsang Sangay also hopes for more positive outcome for Tibet from Xi’s visit.
“In his three-day travel around India, we hope that President Xi Jinping will see the beauty of Indian Democracy, the unity in diversity, how it works, India being the land of many languages, land of many communities exist cohesively because freedom is the foundation of India and fear is not the foundation of India, that’s what keeps India together,” said Tibetan PM Sangay speaking to reporters.
“With the tragedy unfolding in Tibet, there is more repression in Tibet, there is more resentment among the Tibetans towards the Chinese government and the last fifty years is the direct result of that and hopefully India and China realize that the peaceful co-existence between the two goes through Tibet. And Tibet is the key to the solution of the border issues and India-China relationship as whole.”
The parliament will conclude the current session on September 24. The Tibetan Parliament in exile meets twice a year to enact laws, frame rules and regulations and issue policy decisions of the Tibetan government in exile, which officially is known as the Central Tibetan Administration.
