Tibetan Women's Association calls for constructive talks on Tibet
As the two Asian giants meet to hold talks on numerous issues including; trade ties, border dispute, bilateral issues and issues of national and global importance, in a bid to bring about peace and stability in the region, it is of paramount importance that both these members of the international community concede to the fact that peace and stability in Asia can be achieved only when the issue of Tibet is resolved.
As the Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jeichi meets his counterpart the Indian External Affairs Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherkee, during his three-day official visit to India from September 7-9, 2008, at the invitation of the Indian Minister, the Tibetans and the International supporters for Tibet have our hopes hinged on this landmark meeting to deem the issue of Tibet as extremely urgent, crucial and of one requiring immediate attention. We earnestly seek your strategic co-operation and earnestness in bringing about a tangible and positive solution to ending the real and genuine sufferings of the Tibetans inside Tibet.
With both these nations emerging as the new generation of global superpowers with India successfully entering the nuclear league and China basking in the post-Olympics glory it is evident that the moral responsibility of both is to don crucial roles in determining the fate of Tibet and to make this a priority issue.
As a country that stands as the bastion of the ideals of democracy, peace and human fraternity, India has been home to the exile Tibetans under the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for nearly half-a-century. On the other hand, the fifty-year-old Chinese regime with its repressive policies in all fields of life in Tibet witnessed another national uprising in Tibet beginning March 10, 2008. This regime is now blatantly perpetuating an increasingly oppressive atmosphere in Tibet as punishment for the uprising, making the current situation inside Tibet extremely deplorable.
Along with discussion of the impingements they face in strengthening their ties, we call on the world's two most populous nations to put an end to the ostracism of the Tibet issue and instead recognize the imperativeness for both these key countries to hold open talks to constructively resolve the issue of Tibet and exercise a high level transparency in their actions.
Since time immemorial Tibet as a country holds strategic importance sharing borders with both China and India. It remains a serious contemplation that there can be no real peace in the Asian terra firma while the roof of the world is being bathed in blood.
Tibetan Women's Association (TWA) has 49 regional chapters and over 15, 000 members outside Tibet. Today, TWA is the second largest Tibetan NGO and the only women's NGO in our exile that advocates human rights for Tibetan women in Tibet and empowerment of Tibetan women in exile, particularly the new refugee women from Tibet.