Tibetans ready to engage in dialogue with China: Sangay

Dharamsala, March 10 (IANS) Envoys of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama are ready to engage in a dialogue with their Chinese counterparts, Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay said here on Tuesday.

"The envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama are ready to engage in dialogue with their Chinese counterparts any time and any place," Sangay said on the 56th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day.

Retreating the commitment to the 'middle-way approach' of not seeking separation from China but genuine autonomy for the people in Tibet, he said: "In order to realise genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people, the Task Force, an advisory body to the cabinet, held a conclave in the first week of January."

It undertook an in-depth discussion on the political developments in Tibet, on issues relating to the future of dialogue with the Chinese leadership and on developments in the larger international political landscape.

"The Tibetan leadership strongly believes that the only way to resolve the issue of Tibet is through dialogue between the envoys of the Dalai Lama and the representatives of the Chinese leadership," the democratically-elected political leader said in a statement.

"We believe that all people in the People's Republic of China would benefit from the fruits of dialogue and urge the Chinese government to seize the opportunity to further engage with the Dalai Lama."

Tibetan parliament speaker Penpa Tsering, in a separate statement, said: "There is absolutely no change in our resolve to seek a negotiated solution through the 'middle-way approach', which is mutually beneficial to China and Tibet, as a part of our efforts to resolve the current critical situation in Tibet and the wider issue of Tibet."

Official sources said China and the Dalai Lama's envoys have held nine rounds of talks since 2002 to resolve the Tibetan issue.

The last round of talks was held in Beijing in January 2010 and since then there has been a deadlock between the two sides.

The Tibetan administration-in-exile, headquartered here, every year observes March 10 as the day the occupying Chinese troops suppressed the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa in 1959 and forced the Dalai Lama and over 80,000 Tibetans into exile in India and neighbouring countries.

The Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing his homeland.