American role

The Bush Administration appears to have played a key role in working out a face saver between Beijing and the Dalai Lama. On April 21, the US Under Secretary of State and special envoy to Tibet, Paula Dobriansky, held extensive talks with the Dalai Lama — who was travelling in the US.

The same day, in an article published in the pages of the Washington Post, Dobriansky insisted that a “meaningful dialogue” between the Dalai Lama’s representatives and Beijing is “the only way forward”.

That the Bush Administration was applying pressure on the Dalai Lama to agree to talks was apparent from the first sentence in her article, “When I meet with the Dalai Lama today, I fully expect him to reaffirm his strong commitment to engaging Chinese officials in dialogue.”

Dobriansky also urged “China’s leaders to address Tibetan concerns by opening a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, who has advocated a ‘middle way’ that embraces autonomy for Tibet within China and rejects seeking independence. “While Beijing’s initial reaction was to criticise the American “intervention” in the internal affairs of China, within three days, the official news agency Xinhua announced the turn-about on engaging the Dalai Lama.

Getting the two sides to accept the principle of talks is the easier part. The Bush Administration might have to do a lot more to get the talks going. Nevertheless, the US diplomacy on Tibet should serve as an important lesson for the UPA government.

Although the Indian Foreign Office was among the first to call for talks between Beijing and the Dalai Lama, the political leadership appears to have panicked at the thought of taking a steadfast and creative approach to the unfolding crisis in Tibet.

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