Amid US fears that the influence of the Dalai Lama over the exiled Tibetan community might be waning, the Buddhist spiritual leader made desperate appeals for American intervention during the 2008 unrest in Lhasa to “make an impact” in China, according to secret US cables published by WikiLeaks. Cables released by whistle-
blower website WikiLeaks show that US diplomats in New Delhi were in for a surprise when the Dalai Lama, instead of harping on the Tibet issue, asked during a meeting that the international community should focus on climate change because environmental problems were more urgent. US ambassador to India Timothy Roemer felt that he may be seeking to reframe the Tibet issue “as an environmental concern”.
He told Mr Roemer in 2009 that the “political agenda should be sidelined for five to 10 years”. —PTI
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Padgaonkar retracts his statement
SHUCHISMITA
JAMMU
Dec. 17: The third visit of interlocutors appointed by the Centre on Kashmir to the state, which began on Friday, got mired in a new controversy as the head of three-member panel, Mr Dilip Padgaonkar, did a volte-face yet again.
He retracted from his earlier statement vis-à-vis the “functioning of J&K administration” which he has described as “not particularly efficient, not particularly sensitive” made in conversation with the noted journalist Saeed Naqvi aired on a TV news channel.
Mr Padgaonkar took a U-turn after being inundated with media queries, after his arrival in the winter capital, pertaining to a new report published in a local English daily based on this interview.