China has finally agreed to hold talks with the representatives of the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Tibet. For weeks the world fraternity did pressurize China to open dialogues with Dalai Lama and end the crisis in Tibet. It is to be noted that violence broke out in Tibet early this year and the Olympic Torch Relay has also been interrupted in various parts of the world. There is world wide protest against the Chinese policies in Tibet and many countries have severely criticized China for handling the Tibet crisis.

 

However, the Chinese government has not yet cleared the content of the talks. Recently Beijing has described the Dalai Lama as a 'monster' and 'a jackal in monk's robes' who wants to split Tibet from China. Xinhua - the state run news agency said that it hoped that through the talks, Dalai Lama would urge the Tibetan supporters to stop violent activities in China. Dalai Lama had said earlier that he only wants autonomy in Tibet and had also hoped for the success of the Beijing Olympics. He had asked the Tibetan supporters of freedom not to interrupt the Olympic Torch Relay.

 

Earlier too , Beijing has had six rounds of talks with the representatives of Dalai Lama, but to no avail. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Dalai Lama welcomed the offer from China and said that it is only through talks that the Tibetan issue can be solved. He further said that the spiritual leader himself made efforts to talk to China since violence erupted in the Himalayan region on March 10, 2008.