(TibetanReview.net, Aug04, 2017) – Two members of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile (TPiE) have called on a total of 18 members of the Indian parliament belonging to 16 political parties over the period of Jul 30-Aug 2. The meetings took place on the sidelines of the ongoing monsoon session of the parliament.
The delegation members, Deputy Speaker Ven Acharya Yeshi Phuntsok and Ven Tenpa Yarphel, have said the meetings were with Indian MPs Tibetan parliament delegations had not been able to meet with during previous visits.
The Tibetan delegation apprised the Indian MPs on the current situation in Chinese ruled Tibet, which they explained was tragic, and sought their support for urgently addressing the issue.
TPiE said in a statement Aug 3 that the reaction from the Indian MPs was positive, with many of them sayng that India’s ongoing border dispute with China meant that understanding the situation in Tibet was indispensable to them. They were thankful to the delegation for its briefing on the latest situation in Tibet and promised to raise the issues of Tibet in parliamentary proceedings as well as during meetings among various political parties of India.
The delegation continues its lobbying effort till Aug 10, culminating in a meeting of the All Party Indian Parliamentarians Forum for Tibet.
The MPs the delegation had met with till Aug 2 have been named as Mr Abhijit Mukherjee, Mr George Baker, Mr Lal Singh Vadodila, Mr Amar Sable, Mr HS Khalsa, Mr KC Ramamurthy, Mr Narender Jadhav, Mr Kunwar Haribansh Singh, Mr NK Premchand, Ms Priyanka Singh Rawat, Mr Ramdas Chandraban, Mr RK Sinha, Mr Rajesh Pandey, Mr Virender Kashyap, Mr Shrirangh Chandu barne, Prof Ram Sharma and Ms Ranjeet Ranjan.