Dharamshala: During their one day visit to Dharamsala yesterday, a 7-member Japanese delegation comprising of two parliamentarians and officials of a think-tank, expressed their strong support for the Middle-Way policy for resolving the issue of Tibet.
The delegation was accompanied by Mr Lhakpa Tshoko, the representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Japan.
Some of the prominent delegates include Mr Hakubun Shimomura and Ms Eriko Yamatani, both members of Liberal Democratic Party in the Japanese Parliament and Ms Yoshiko Sakurai, a noted journalist and president of a think-tank, Japan Institute for National Fundamentals.
The delegates received an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama yesterday.
They met with Kalon Tripa, Dr Lobsang Sangay, at the Kashag Secretariat.
They also met Mr Penpa Tsering, the Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, and Kalon Dicki Chhoyang, Kalon for the Department of Information & International Relations (DIIR), at a dinner reception hosted in their honour by the DIIR.
Speaker Penpa Tsering briefed the delegates about the parliamentary groups for Tibet in various countries to encourage them to attend the next world parliamentarians' convention on Tibet.
The delegates said their visit would be a turning point to strengthen their support for the Tibetan cause, adding that their support is due to the non-violent nature of the Tibetan struggle. They also expressed their concern over the human rights violations taking place inside Tibet. After returning to Japan, they said they we would discuss with the Parliamentary group for Tibet in Japan on how best to strengthen their unity and campaigns for the issue of Tibet.
