London, May 8 (ANI): The Dalai Lama is still hoping for a softening of China’s stand on the contentious Tibet issue.
Undeterred by the years of inconclusive negotiations with Beijing over the touchy topic of Tibet’s autonomy, the Dalai Lama said that talks still needed to press ahead, and that there is still a possibility of working out a solution that is consensual.
“So far, dialogue failed, but that does not mean in future no possibility,” the Daily Express quoted Dalai Lama as saying. .
He conceded that years of indecisiveness over the issue of his homeland had left him despondent, but the slight change in mood from the Chinese side has renewed his hope, the report said.
He says that the worldwide awareness about the plight of Tibetans, sympathy amongst the Chinese intelligentsia regarding Tibet and mixed signals from some Chinese leaders in a departure from their hitherto reified stand were the cause of his newfound optimism, it added.
“They are realistic,” he said of the Chinese leadership. “They have the ability to act according to a new reality,” the report quoted him, as saying.
He says he doesn’t mind waiting a decade or two more for a peaceful resolution to the Tibet issue, and prescribes patience to achieve the desired results.
Talks between Chinese representatives and the Dalai’s envoys were restarted in January, however, Beijing stuck to its original stance and summarily rejected the idea of granting autonomy to Tibet.(ANI)