New Delhi: Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama may visit China if relations between Tibet and the Beijing government improve, his special envoy Lodi Gyari, said on Friday.
“It was made clear by his holiness, the Dalai Lama, on several occasions his intention to visit Wutai Shan in Shanxi Province,” said Gyari.
“If Sino-Tibetan relations improve, there will be a time for his holiness to visit these holy places,” he said in an interview broadcast on Radio Free Asia, an American-funded radio station.
Gyari, who headed a four-member delegation which visited China between May 25 and June 8, said in a separate statement that they were “greatly encouraged” by their meetings with China’s new leaders.
“Both sides agreed that our past relationship had many twists and turns and that many areas of disagreement still exist,” Gyari said in the statement posted on the website of the Tibetan-government-in-exile in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala.
“The need was felt for more efforts to overcome the existing problems and bring about mutual understanding and trust. We feel greatly encouraged by our first encounter and exchange of views with our new Chinese counterparts,” he said.
Gyari said that they had suggested that both sides “take further steps”.
He added that the Dalai Lama, too, was pleased by the positive outcome of the visit and urged vigorous efforts to further advance the process.
“Our mission is to lead this process to an earnest negotiation to find a mutually acceptable solution for the Tibetan people,” he said.
The Dalai Lama had sent Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen as special envoys, along with two senior assistants, to Beijing.
Gyari said the second visit by the Tibetan-government-in-exile representatives to China was aimed at broader understanding of the situation in the country through meetings with Chinese officials.
Observers of Tibetan politics said that one of the objectives of the delegation’s tour was to pave the way for a possible visit by the Dalai Lama.
The delegation met Tibetan officials in Yunnan, where they also spoke to representatives of ethnic minorities from the Yi, Naxi (Jang), and Bai nationalities who have close links with the Tibetan people.
Gyari said that the visit gave them an opportunity to tour the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Yunnan. “We have been greatly impressed by the economic and social changes in the areas that we visited,” he added.
The envoys first visited Beijing last year to reopen links between China and the Dalai Lama that were severed in 1993.
