LHASA, June 16 Although the official Chinese rhetoric against the Dalai Lama remains unyielding, two immediate high-profile events in the coming weeks could provide an opportunity for the two sides to take a step forward in their current talks about talks on the political future of Tibet.

The special envoys of the 14th Dalai Lama are slated to visit China and Tibet shortly for a crucial fourth round of consultations that could lead to the resumption of a formal dialogue between Beijing and the exiled Tibetan leadership.

Next month, Tibetans around the world will celebrate the 70th birthday of the Dalai Lama. Meanwhile, the Chinese government in Beijing and the local Tibetan government here are gearing up to mark the 40th anniversary of the formation of the Tibet Autonomous Region as an entity within China in September.

The former event will signify the continuing centrality of the Dalai Lama in resolving the political dispute between Tibet and China while the latter will mark the unmistakable consolidation of Beijing’s rule in Tibet and celebrate the unprecedented economic boom and growing levels of prosperity in the region.

The challenge for the Sino-Tibetan talks lies in breaking out of this political stalemate.

The next few weeks could see some public signalling between Beijing and Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama runs a government in exile, and some intense face to face talks on the framework for negotiations about the future of Tibet.

As Beijing initiated ‘‘unofficial’’ talks with the exiled Tibetan leadership since 2002, the Dalai Lama has repeatedly proclaimed that he no longer seeks independence from China and is only interested in autonomy that will allow the Tibetans to freely pursue their social, economic and cultural development.

Officials in Beijing last week conceded the movement in the Dalai Lama’s position, but insisted that the change is not ‘‘substantive’’. But behind the harsh public rhetoric, the three rounds of talks between the two sides have apparently made some progress.

Exiled Tibetan sources told The Indian Express that the last round of talks in September 2004 ‘‘were the most extensive and serious exchange of views on Tibet so far’’. Expectations are high that the fourth round might bring some results.

But, while the Dalai Lama has given up the call for independence from China, he will find it difficult to declare that Tibet was always part of China. For him it is a negation of history.

Beijing’s understanding of ‘‘splittist activities’’ also seems rather elastic. The geographic definition of Tibet and the future of the Dalai Lama as an institution are the other key elements of dispute between the two sides.