Dharamsala, July 03: Asking China to take up "sincere and substantive" discussions with the Dalai Lama side on the Tibet autonomy issue, an Australian parliamentary delegation which met the Tibetan spiritual leader on Friday expressed concern over the "deteriorating" situation in the Himalayan region.
"We support, strongly, the Dalai Lama's middle way
proposal for a peaceful negotiated settlement of the Tibetan
situation and regret that the Tibet-China dialogue has so far
failed to bring genuine progress towards a mutually
acceptable resolution," a statement by the six-member
delegation led by ruling Labour MP Micheal Danky said.
The meeting with the Dalai Lama at Mcleodganj, about
22 km from here at the headquarters of Tibetan government
in-exile, "reflected testimony to the depth and breadth of
support in Australia for a peaceful resolution of Tibetan
situation", the statement said.
The MPs expressed "deepest concern and sympathy over
the enduring situation inside Tibet, in particular the
deteriorating conditions of last year".
"Religious repression, patriotic education and undemocratic
social-economic reforms, including the forced settlement of
nomads have fanned the flames of unrest in Tibet and brought
untold suffering to the Tibetan people."
The delegation expressed disappointment at Chinese
government's outright rejection last November of the Dalai
Lamla's 'memorandum on genuine autonomy for Tibetan people'
"We support the memorandum as a basis for constructive
negotiations on Tibet future and will continue to encourage
the Chinese government to enter into sincere and substantive
discussions with the Dalai Lama or his representatives...," it
added.
Peter Slipper, Nick Xenophone, Melirsa Parke, Scott
Ludham and Sarah Hanson Young were other members of the
delegation.
Earlier, the delegation visited important centres of
the Tibetans government-in-exile here.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, July 03, 2009, 22:11