US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged China Monday to speak to the Dalai Lama as the "only policy that is sustainable in Tibet," during talks with her visiting Indian counterpart. "We believe that the answer for Tibet is to have a more sustainable policy for the Chinese government," Rice told reporters as she stood next to India's foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee.
"I have spoken with my counterpart about the current situation in which there needs to be restraint in which violence is not acceptable," Rice said. "But there also needs to be a day after the current events and that really requires a sustained process of dealing with the problems of Tibet and the grievances of Tibet," she said.
"And we believe that the Dalai Lama can play a very favourable role given his belief in non-violence, given his stated position that he does not seek political independence for Tibet, and given his unassailable authoritative moral stature, not just with the people of Tibet but with people from around the world," Rice said.
"And we are going to continue to encourage that dialogue because ultimately that is going to be the only policy that is sustainable in Tibet," she said.
Mukherjee told reporters: "We have expressed our concern...about the latest developments. We do hope it will be possible to resolve the issue through peaceful dialogue between the parties concerned." Last week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Tibet is a "sensitive issue" between China and India, as he expressed appreciation to Indian authorities for cracking down on Tibetan protesters there.
Wen said he enjoyed broad agreement with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the Tibet issue. India is home to at least 100,000 Tibetan exiles and refugees, as well as the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader.
Indian police last week arrested around 100 Tibetan marchers who were trying to journey from India to their homeland. The Indian government said last week it "does not permit Tibetans to engage in anti-China political activities in India" and that "any activity which causes disruption would be dealt with in accordance" with Indian law.