Dalai Lama's envoys travelling to Beijing for talks

Dharamshala (HP), Oct 30 (PTI) Two envoys of the Dalai Lama today travelled to the Chinese capital for talks over the Tibet issue amid fresh acrimony between the two sides after the exiled leader said he has "given up" on the dialogue and that Tibetans should rethink their strategy.
The special representatives-- Kasur Lodi Gyaltsen and Kelsang Gyaltsen -- accompanied by three senior assistants left for Beijing this morning for the eighth round of talks with the representatives of the Chinese leadership, Thubten Samphel, said an official of the Tibetan government-in-exile based here.

Tenzin Takhla, secretary and spokesman of the Dalai Lama here, told PTI that the talks will take place at Beijing tomorrow but the duration will depend on "positive" outcome of the deliberations.

This will be the third round of talks this year after anti-China protests erupted in Tibet and other parts of the world ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.

Envoys, who had been representing the noble laureate since the start of the talks between the two sides in 2002, had their final briefing from Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile Samdhong Rinpoche, Samphel said without elaborating.

The two sides have had seven rounds of talks with Chinese officials on Tibet's future as well as on the possible return of the Dalai Lama to his homeland, from where he fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Beijing's rule.

The Dalai Lama had last week said that he has "given up" on efforts to convince China to allow greater autonomy for Tibet under its rule and called a six-day special meeting of Tibetans at Macleodganj starting November 17 to discuss other options for resolving the vexed issue. PTI