Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao has concluded a series of meetings with top functionaries of the Tibetan government-in-exile, including the Dalai Lama, at McLeodganj (Dharamsala) in Himachal Pradesh.
Ms Rao, who was accompanied by senior officials, including her joint secretary, East Asia, Gautam Bambawale, met the Tibetan spiritual leader for over 90 minutes at his residence on Saturday afternoon. Both the MEA and the Tibetans have refused to divulge the specifics of what was discussed.
“All I can tell you is that issues of common interest were discussed between the foreign secretary and his Holiness,” joint secretary in the Dalai Lama’s secretariat, Tenzin Taksha told this newspaper.
But the McLeodganj meetings are being viewed as significant in the context of both India-China and Tibet-China as they come only days after national security adviser Shivshankar Menon’s recent sojourn to Beijing as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s special envoy.
Tibet’s Prime Minister-in-exile Samdhong Rinpoche however described Ms Rao’s visit to McLeodganj as routine. “The Indian foreign secretary comes to Dharamsala at least once every year as a matter of protocol. Ms Rao had not been able to visit since she took over as foreign secretary because of work pressure in Delhi,” he said.
While in Dharamsala Ms Rao and her colleagues witnessed a cultural performance at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts and later on Saturday night attended a banquet hosted in their honour by Prime Minister Rinpoche. Shrouded by a security curtain the group flew back to Delhi on Sunday morning.