Tibetans-in-exile want Manmohan to raise Tibetan issue with Beijing

Tibetans-living-in-exile here have urged Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to raise the Tibetan issue with China.

Dharamsala, Jan 14 : Tibetans-living-in-exile here have urged Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to raise the Tibetan issue with China.

They said that India had stake enough in the Tibet issue to raise it with China during Singh's ongoing visit to the neighbouring country.

"The issue of Tibet should be raised specially from the Indian counterpart, because India has so much stake in the whole Tibet issue. I pray that Dr. Singh would sincerely raise this issue," said Tsering Choeying, President of the Free Tibet of Indian Chapter.

The Tibetan also said that India could even try for a negotiated settlement.

"Officially, there will be five memorandums of understanding which will be signed, and in which Tibetan issue has been completely ignored. Side lining the Tibetan issue is not the solution. Tibet is not asking too much, in fact they were asking very reasonable thing within the Chinese Constitution. I think this something China must consider and India must push for," said Lobsang Wangyal, a Tibetan activist.

The Dalai Lama has been campaigning for greater autonomy for Tibet.

The Dalai Lama set up his seat of power in Dharamsala after he and his followers had fled to India in 1959, following a failed uprising against Chinese occupation of Tibet.

Beijing established direct contacts with the Dalai Lama in 1979. The dialogue was suspended in 1993. But had quietly revived amid signs China might have decided to allow a subtle but significant shift in policy toward the Dalai Lama.

An estimated 13,40,00 Tibetans live in exile, a majority of them in India and Nepal.

ANI