"We consider ourselves extension of Indian culture," says Tibetan leader in exile

New Delhi [India], July 18 (ANI): Penpa Tsering, the President of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, appreciated India's support for Tibetan culture and highlighted their strong cultural connection with New Delhi, adding that Tibetans consider themselves an extension of Indian culture, language and religion.
Tsering further noted that Tibetan language and religion are based on Indian scripts and have translated many Sanskrit and Pali texts into Tibetan, preserving ancient Indian wisdom.
"We consider ourselves as an extension of Indian culture, language or religion. The script of our language and religion all came from India. We consider ourselves as an extension of Indian culture because wetranslated every available Sanskrit and Pali text into Tibetan and we are the only country to do that. So, we are the repository of one part of ancient Indian wisdom," Penpa Tsering said.
Further, he also acknowledged India's role in providing refuge to the Dalai Lama and 72,000 Tibetan people when China annexed Tibet in 1951.
"We are very grateful to the Indian government at the most difficult period of our history, to give refuge here in India to His Holiness and now there are 72,000 Indian Tibetans in India," said Tsering.
Tsering also spoke about the recent United States Congressional delegation's visit to India. The delegation, including former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, met Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama at his residence in Dharamshala on June 20.
The US delegation also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S jaishankar .
Tsering said that India's permission for a congressional visit to Dharamsala and the subsequent meetings with Indian leaders is a sign of validation and support for the Tibetan cause.
"I think a lot of analysis has been done during the congressional visit to Dharamsala where a lot of credit is given to the Indian government for allowing them to visit India, visit Dharamshala make those statements and they're on the way back meet with Prime Minister Modi ji and also the foreign minister," said Tsering
"So I think in Taiwan also it's being interpreted as validation of this visit to Dharamshala by the Indian government," he added.
The Tibetan Government-in-Exile President also hailed US President Joe Biden's recent signing of the 'Resolve Tibet Bill,' stating that the move has clearly struck a nerve with China.
Last week, US President Joe Biden signed the 'Resolve Tibet Act', which states that China's ongoing occupation of Tibet must be resolved per international law peacefully and not through repression.
Expressing a confident stance on the impact of the newly signed 'Resolve Tibet Bill' and highlighting that the bill has "significantly unsettled" the Chinese government, Tsering remarked that the strong Chinese reaction underscores the bill's effectiveness in challenging Beijing's narrative on Tibet. (ANI)