Two years after the Tibetan government-in-exile renewed negotiations with China, after a full decade, on the question of Tibet, a delegation of the Dalai Lama’s special envoys left for a tour of the Middle Kingdom on the weekend. Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, Dharamsala’s special representatives based in Washington DC and Brussels respectively, are close confidantes of the Dalai Lama, and were part of both visits to China over the last two years. This one’s the third and promises to be the most significant yet, where the special envoys hope to raise the level and content of the ‘‘talks about talks’’ to ‘‘substantive talks’’ about the future of Tibet. The Dalai Lama has emphasised for over a decade that he doesn’t want to ‘‘split’’ Tibet from China, but would like both sides to arrive at a genuine agreement over spiritual and cultural autonomy for the Tibetan people. Still, the timing of the visit of the Dalai Lama’s envoys is interesting. A so-called ‘‘private’’ delegation consisting of weighty Tibetans in Dharamsala and elsewhere, including the Dalai Lama’s elder brother Gyalo Thondup, was not allowed to visit about a month ago, ostensibly because the members wanted to go to their respective home towns in Tibet. Permission for this trip, meanwhile, comes in the wake of a major power struggle going on in Beijing, between President Hu Jintao and the Chairman of the Military Commission, Jiang Zemin. The liberal-reformer President is said to be in favour of a ‘‘kinder’’ approach to the resolution of ethnic issues plaguing China, such as in Tibet and the Uighur Autonomous republic — apart from allowing greater freedom and openness on other socio-economic issues — but Comrade Jiang would take a much tougher line. Significantly, this is the second time in two weeks that Beijing is showing signs of compromise. The first came a few days ago when it allowed an Indian team of water experts to visit Lhasa to check out the future mind of the Pareechu. Allowing the Tibetan team to travel is the second occasion. When PM meets Gen PM Manmohan Singh and President Pervez Musharraf will meet on Sept 24, in New York, on the margins of the UNGA, for their first face-to-face conversation. The encounter is being described as a getting-to-know-you event, but even so both men are likely to speak their minds. Musharraf has already announced to his Generals that he will speak about Kashmir, while PM Shaukat Aziz has stated that the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline will also be linked to progress on Kashmir. Considering Islamabad has been pressing for transit rights for five long years, that India officially placed it for the first time on the table in the Foreign Ministers’ talks, a linkage with Kashmir is kind of startling. The Russian front India's newest ambassador to Russia and former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal leaves for Moscow this week, for what is likely to be the most tumultuous three years in his life. After the Beslan massacre in southern Russia ten days ago, Russian President Putin has sought to accumulate power in the Kremlin, pointing out that when things fall apart in the fringes, it is the Centre that stands at risk. As the Western world implicitly justified Beslan as a manifestation of Chechen aspirations for independence, PM Manmohan Singh wrote and called Putin. They are likely to meet in New York on the margins of the UNGA. With the all-powerful US walking tall despite Iraq, Moscow can only allow itself the luxury of muted resentment. The engagement between India and Russia, meanwhile, clarifies itself, with a major event every month the next few months. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the man who put Moscow back on the UN map in recent years, will visit Delhi from October 8-10 (on the eve of which the new Russian Ambassador Vyacheslav Trubnikov arrives), the inter-governmental commission takes place in November and in early December, Putin himself comes to Delhi.
