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Parliamentarians on Tibet Applaud Mongolia for Welcoming His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Urge Buddhist Countries to Emulate

Co-chair of the Working Group of International Network of Parliamentarians on Tibet (INPaT) Mr Thomas Mann.

DHARAMSHALA: The International Network of Parliamentarians on Tibet (INPaT), a network of parliamentarians committed to help resolving the issue of Tibet, applauded the Mongolian government for enabling His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit and urged Buddhist countries around the world to emulate the courage shown by the people and government of Mongolia.

In a statement released by Co-chair of the Working Group of INPaT, Mr Thomas Mann, Chairman of the Tibet Inter Group in the European Parliament, on Wednesday said, “The International Network of Parliamentarians on Tibet (INPaT) welcomes the visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Mongolia. We are pleased that the Mongolian Buddhists were able to receive teachings from the Dalai Lama, as they rightly should be able to do in a free country.”

“We applaud the Mongolian Government for enabling the Dalai Lama to make this pastoral visit. It is indeed encouraging to see that Mongolia is able to stand up for its values and that is certainly something that many of our own countries with Buddhist practitioners can and should emulate.” Click here to view the statement.

Despite Beijing’s strident objections on the visit, His Holiness the Dalai Lama was welcomed by the people of Mongolia for a series of Buddhist teaching, conference and public talk in the country. Supporters and followers of His Holiness, in and around Mongolia, traveled hundreds of miles to see him while braving the coldest winter in a decade.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly urged Mongolia to bar His Holiness’ visit for the sake of a “sound and steady” development of bilateral ties.