Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, July 28: Czech Republic President Petr Pavel met with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Sunday morning in Leh, Ladakh. This marks the first time a sitting head of state has travelled to India specifically to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader.
President Pavel was accompanied by a high-level delegation that included Czech Ambassador to India Dr. Eliska Zigova, Deputy Head of Mission Kateřina Petersen, and other senior officials. The meeting took place at Shiwa Tsel Phodrang, where the Czech President extended warm congratulations to His Holiness on the occasion of his 90th birthday.
The visit carries significant diplomatic weight, coming just days after tensions surfaced at the top-level summit in Beijing on Thursday, marking the 50th anniversary of the European Union–China diplomatic relations. The summit, originally slated for two days from July 24-25, reportedly concluded early following a strained exchange between Chinese President Xi Jinping and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, with little progress on bilateral issues.
Upon arrival in Leh, President Pavel was received by officials of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the democratically elected exile Tibetan government. Among those welcoming him were CTA President Penpa Tsering, Security Minister Dolma Gyari, Information and International Relations Minister Norzin Dolma, Home Secretary Palden Dhondup, Delhi-based Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama Jigme Jungney, and Ladakh’s Chief Representative Officer Tashi Dhondup.
Speaking to the media at the welcome reception, President Pavel said, “For me, it’s a great pleasure and honour to visit the Dalai Lama because he visited my country eleven times, so it’s a great pleasure to reciprocate at least once. He (His Holiness) is not calling for an independent Tibet. He understands the Middle Way very well, and he only wants freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and freedom of language for his own people. And I think we should all support that.”
The Czech delegation also visited Thiksey Monastery alongside President Tsering, engaging with Tibetan Buddhist culture and interacting with the Sonamling Tibetan community through cultural performances and dialogue, according to the CTA-run official portal, tibet.net.
In a keynote address delivered during the visit, President Pavel affirmed his government’s support for the Middle Way Approach, the official stance of the CTA that advocates genuine autonomy for Tibet within China rather than full independence.
“We came from the Czech Republic—a country so distant, in the centre of Europe. A country so different in culture, history, and even the present. But what we have in common is that we are all human beings who want to live decent, enjoyable lives and prepare the best possible future for our children,” President Pavel said. “And we came to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama to show him our support for your cause—that is, for you to have something that may seem luxurious, but is actually a basic right: the freedom to use your language, practice your religion, and preserve your culture.” President Pavel concluded his address by expressing gratitude for the warm reception and voiced hope that Tibetans in exile would one day return to their homeland.
It is heart warming to have the Czech President Peter Pavel meeting HH The Dalai Lama! The Dalai Lama and the late former Czech President Vaclav Havel had a very warm and friendly relationship. The Czech Republic has been in the forefront of supporting the Tibetan Freedom Movement. This is perhaps because the Czechs share a historical betrayal by the British, France and Italy. The infamous 1938 MUNICH AGREEMENT facilitated the German annexation of part of Czechoslovakia known as Sudetenland where three million ethnic German population lived. Nazi Germany initiated a low intensity war against Czechoslovakia. Britain and France requested Czechoslovakia to cede the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany in order to appease Hitler and avoid a wider war! This was a betrayal because France and Czechoslovakia had signed an alliance treaty in 1924 and a military pact in 1925. During an emergency meeting of European powers on 29th-30th 1938 September an agreement was quickly reached on Hitler’s terms and signed by Germany, France, Britain and Italy to cede Czechoslovakia’s mountainous borderland marked as a natural border between Czeck State and the Germanic states from the middle ages. The Czech representatives were not invited to the meeting. The Czechs see the similarity in Chinese invasion of Tibet where the British washed off their hands on to the Indians who were besotted by the lavish Chinese communist rhetoric of Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai that in turn made them appease communist China and allowed Tibet to be conquered by them! They have held the Dalai Lama in high esteem by inviting him to address the Czech Parliament and made him an honorary citizen of the Czech Republic by handing him the key of Prague city in 2010! Tibetans are very lucky to have such a reliable supporter for its cause. The Baltic nation of Estonia’s President also met the Dalai Lama during his visit to Tallin in 2011. The small nations who have suffered colonisation and occupation by larger neighbours are much more sympathetic to the plight of Tibet owing to their own experience. There is hope that Latvia might follow the President of the Czech Republic in meeting the Dalai Lama in the not so long distant future. Tibetans must continue to fight for the independence of our country. They should learn history and understand that every country who were invaded by foreign invaders always fought and won independence! Almost every country has an Independence Day that they celebrate with joyous abandon. We will also achieve independence because the occupier cannot remain powerful forever. All western colonialists had to abandon their ill gotten territories because they had no more power left to suppress them! One of the greatest hope for Tibet is India. Its policy of appeasement has not only brought the Chinese to their door but invaded them just after communist China occupied Tibet! it exposed India’s vulnerability once the age old Tibet buffer between China and India was occupied by a foreign hostile power! The British never allowed any foreign power to get a foothold in Tibet. The Indians have learned their lesson the hard way! In order to secure a tranquil border between India and Tibet, TIBETAN INDEPENDENCE IS THE ONLY ANSWER! This doesn’t need rocket science to realise this! Autonomy for Tibet will not bring about security and tranquility on the Indo-Tibet border because the Chinese will still retain its armed forces on the border and Tibet will remain militarised as it is now. Therefore, the TIBET BUFFER MUST BE RE-INSTITUTED TO ENSURE BLANKET SECURITY ALL ACROSS THE INDO-TIBET BORDER.