Dalai Lama's envoys reach China for next round of talks

Two special envoys of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, will hold two days of talks with Chinese authorities in Beijing from Tuesday on the vexed Tibet issue.

The envoys -- Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen-- who represented the Dalai Lama during the last talks held on May 4, accompanied by three others have reached Beijing for the seventh round of parleys, Tenzin Takhla, secretary of the Dalai Lama, told PTI on Monday. Those accompanying the envoys are Sonam N Dagpo, Bhuchung K Tsering -- both members of Tibetan special task force on Sino-Tibetan negotiations -- and Jigmey Passang from the Tibetan task force secretariat.

The Dalai Lama has instructed the envoys to make every effort to bring about a tangible progress to alleviate the "difficult" situation for Tibetans in their homeland, Chhime R Chhoekyapa, aide to the Dalai Lama, said in Dharamsala.

Tuesday's talks, the seventh in the series of parleys between representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese authorities since 2002, is in pursuance of the decision to continue the dialogue process taken during the last round held on May 4. The talks, originally scheduled for June 11, were postponed because of China's preoccupation with relief and rehabilitation work in the wake of the massive earthquake which hit that country killing nearly 70,000 people.

The envoys, after their return from Beijing on July 4-5, will brief the temporal head of the exiled Tibetan government about the talks, Takhla said.

Earlier last week, in a meeting of the special task force constituted by the exiled government, a decision was taken to press for granting National Regional Autonomy status to the Tibetan region and to seek restoration of peace in the region which witnessed widespread protests in March this year.

The meeting was attended by the prime minister of the exiled Tibetan government Samdhong Rinpoche and the two envoys -- Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen. Both Gyari and Gyaltsen have been representing the Dalai Lama in talks on the Tibet issue.