Delhi: A five-day strategic meeting of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, held in Delhi from 6 to 11 August 2023, successfully concluded in the attendance of Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, Deputy Speaker Dolma Tsering Teykhang, and parliamentarians of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile.

With enhanced advocacy skills and a renewed spirit amongst the parliamentarians, the third TPiE strategic meeting concluded with the launch of the TPiE Strategic Plan 2023-2026 in English and Tibetan languages.

During the launch of the documents, the Deputy Speaker explained the significance of TPiE Strategic Plan 2023-2026, and especially on the process of finalising it. While the Speaker explained how the document was initially emailed to each of the MPs and then finalised at the standing committee’s meeting.  Bringing their collective effort, the Tibetan MPs voiced their ideas and shared their recommendations on accomplishing the listed goals in the strategic plan.

The TPiE Strategic Plan 2023-2026 focused primarily on the guiding principles, strategic goals, and action plans. It contains six strategic goals for the TPiE to work over the next four years and detailed action plans to achieve the listed goals.

On the same day, the Tibetan MPs also had an interactive session with Shri Rajendra Agarwal, Lok Sabha and Dr. Amee Yajnik, member of Rajya Sabha.

A closing session was held on the final day where the Deputy Speaker emphasized that the discussions held between the Tibetan MPs and Indian dignitaries and experts during the five-day meeting will be guidance for the TPiE’s future course of actions. “More importantly”, the Deputy Speaker added, “this meeting provided a great opportunity for the Tibetan MPs to interact and convey our message to Indian MPs from both houses including Shri Sujeet Kumar, Convenor of All Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet (APIPFT).”

The Deputy Speaker further extended her appreciation and gratitude to the participating Tibetan MPs for their active engagement in their discussion in the committees allotted during the strategic meeting. Further adding that the meeting succeeded beyond the set expectations but the main responsibility of accomplishing the listed goals lies with parliamentarians.

The first day of the meeting had an interactive session with Shri Sujeet Kumar, member of Rajya Sabha and Chair of the All Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet (APIPFT) where they discussed India’s Tibet policy, on raising the issue of Sino-Tibetan conflict in Indian parliament, Sino-Indian relations, and on ways to elevate Tibet outreach campaigns. The first day’s program also featured talks on ‘Resetting India’s Tibet Policy 2022’ by O.P. Tandon and Rebon Banerjee, Trustees of the Foundation for Non-Violent Alternatives (FNVA), New Delhi, and on ‘China’s 2021 White Paper on Tibet: Implications for India’s China Strategy’ by Dr. Manoj Joshi, Distinguished Fellow at Observer Research Foundation.

The second day of the strategic meeting of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile featured a talk on ‘Endanger of Climatic Changes in South Asia’ by Dr. Arvind Kumar, President of India Water Foundation & Governor at the World Water Council. There was also a brainstorming session amongst Tibetan MPs on the topics discussed on the first day. Shri MP Sujeet Kumar – Convenor of All Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet – hosted a high tea in honour of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, and members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile on the same day. The high tea was also attended by Dr. Ashok Bajpai, member of Rajya Sabha and Shri Aneel Hedge, member of Rajya Sabha MP. Over the tea, the Indian and Tibetan MPs had extensive discussion on varied issues.

The third day of the TPiE strategic meeting featured talks on ‘Five trends to watch for in India’s Foreign policy in relation with India’s Tibet policy’ by Suhasini Haider – Diplomatic editor of The Hindu – and on the topic of ‘India-China Relations’ by Amb. Shyam Saran – former envoy of Prime Minister of govt. of India for nuclear affairs and climate change & former foreign secretary of India. The Tibetan MPs also had a productive interactive session with Shri A.D. Singh, member of Rajya Sabha later in the evening.

Tibetan Parliamentarians on the fourth day of the strategic meeting had a very productive interactive session with Shri Aneel Hegde, member of Rajya Sabha, and Dr. Ashok Bajpai, member of Rajya Sabha, who was accompanied by BJP leader Shri Rajesh Dixit, discussing varied issues. The meeting also focused on the important aspects of emotional intelligence, personality development, and conflict resolution. Durba Ghose, co-founder and director of Mittika enriching lifespaces, spoke on the intricacies of emotional intelligence, while Jaya Iyer from Mittika spoke on personality development. Ghose and Iyer also talked on conflict resolution – peace building initiative.

This is the third strategic meeting of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, the previous two were held in Haryana and Dharamshala in September and November of 2022 respectively.

The strategic meeting was funded by USAID and NDI.