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Dalai Lama disappointed with China talks

Source:PTI
July 05, 2008 18:24 IST

The Dalai Lama is "disappointed" by the outcome of the latest round of talks with China, the Tibetan spiritual leader's special envoys said on Saturday, accusing Beijing of lacking commitment towards the dialogue process.

Special envoys Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen said they have told Chinese officials during the two-day talks in Beijing that continuing the parleys on the Tibet issue will serve no purpose until the Communist country takes "tangible" measures.

The Dalai Lama was "disappointed" on the outcome of the latest Beijing talks, the duo said in a statement in Dharamsala.

"In the course of our discussion, we were compelled to convey to our counterparts that in the absence of serious and sincere commitment on their part, the continuation of the present dialogue process would serve no purpose," they said.

It was the second round of talks after the May 4 parleys held in the aftermath of Beijing's massive crackdown on Tibetan protesters in March.

"Since Tibet has become an issue of great international concern, we had hoped the Chinese leadership would reciprocate our efforts by taking tangible steps during this round," the envoys said after briefing their 72-year-old spiritual leader.

"But on the contrary... the Chinese side even failed to agree to our proposal of issuing a joint statement with the aim of committing both parties to the dialogue process," they said in an unusually harsh statement.

The envoys said the Chinese side had expressed the view that the dialogue process has been productive and that it was needed to keep in mind that a half-a-century old issue of great complexity cannot be resolved in a matter of years.

They said the next rounds of talks on the vexed Tibet issue will be held in October.

Source: PTI
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