The Leader of Opposition in the Indian Parliament, LK Advani urged Chinese President Hu Jintao to allow the Dalai Lama to visit Tibet to explore the possibility of a dialogue to resolve "the aspiration of the Tibetan people."
Mr. Advani is the first Indian leader in recent times to raise the issue of the Dalai Lama with the Chinese leader, who raised the issue during his 20-minute meeting with the Chinese leader. Advani said he believed that if the Dalai Lama is allowed to visit Tibet, he would talk to his people and see how a dialogue could be started to resolve the Tibetan issue. President Hu had told Mr. Advani that, for any forward movement on the issue, the Dalai Lama would have to accept publicly that Tibet is an integral part of China.
Hu, who was surprised that the Leader of Opposition in the Parliament raised the issue, said that everyone was aware of the Tibetan issue and the Dalai Lama. But for any forward movement, the Dalai Lama would have to take the first step. Earlier the government of India had indicated to Mr. Advani that unofficially too, India had sought to impress on China to have a dialogue with the Dalai Lama to resolve the Tibetan issue.