Special Envoy responds to article on “delay in meeting between President Obama and His Holiness the Dalai Lama”Wednesday, 7 October 2009, 11:38 a.m.
Dharamshala:
The special envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kasur Lodi Gyaltsen
Gyari, has sent a letter to the editor of the Washington Post which ran
a front-page article “Obama’s Meeting With the Dalai Lama Is Delayed”.”The
Oct. 5 front-page article “Obama’s Meeting With the Dalai Lama Is
Delayed” captured some of the complexity of this issue but failed to
state clearly that we were involved in the decision for President Obama
to meet His Holiness after the U.S.-China summit and not during his
visit to Washington this week. We came to this arrangement because we
believe that it is in our long-term interests,” Special Envoy Kasur
Lodi Gyari said in his letter.”The article failed to take into account the implications of an important statement by the office of the Dalai Lama
after a visit by the president’s senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett. The
statement gives details of the discussion, including His Holiness’s
views on the priorities for the Obama administration on Tibet and the
importance of a cooperative U.S.-China relationship” he said.”My
meeting with Ms. Jarrett was to discuss the logistics and agenda of her
visit to India to meet His Holiness. We saw the visit of Ms. Jarrett
and Maria Otero, undersecretary for democracy and global affairs and
special coordinator for Tibetan issues, to Dharamsala as evidence of a
new approach on Tibet as well as a reflection of Mr. Obama’s great
esteem for His Holiness,” he added.
