By IANS
New Delhi : The dialogue between China and Tibet has reached a critical stage as the two sides continue to have divergent positions on key issues, said Lodi Gyari, special envoy of the Dalai Lama after returning from Shanghai to Dharamsala – home to Tibet's exiled leader.
"Our dialogue process has reached a critical stage," Lodi Gyari, the Dalai Lama's top envoy in Washington, said after the weeklong trip to Shanghai and Nanjing.
"We conveyed our serious concerns in the strongest possible manner on the overall Tibetan issue and made some concrete proposals for implementation if our dialogue process is to go forward," he said in a statement released by the Bureau of Dalai Lama here Saturday.
"The discussions were candid and frank. Both sides expressed in strong terms their divergent positions on views on a number of issues," the envoy said after the sixth round of talks between the Dalai Lama's envoys and the Chinese leadership.
China and the Dalai Lama's envoys have been engaged in talks since 2002, but little progress has been made.
Climbing down from his earlier demand for independence for Tibet, the Dalai Lama is now seeking the status of an autonomous state for the region within China.
China has hardened its stance and considers the Dalai Lama a separatist. Recently, Beijing also took a tough stance on the Dalai Lama's overseas trips and protested against Australian Prime Minister John Howard's meeting with him.
India recognises the Tibet Autonomous Region as part of China.