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Russian Foreign Minister Questioned on Denial of Visa to His Holiness
Russian Buddhists protesting against their government |
Dharamsala, 11 November 2003: Russia’s Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was questioned on its latest attempt to appease China, reports Ekho Moskvy news agency.
Sergey Glazyev, a Russian State Duma member (leader of the Motherland election bloc) has sought explanation from the Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on the denial of an entry visa to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Glazyev had asked Ivanov to inform him of the conditions to be fulfilled for His Holiness the Dalai Lama to visit the Russian Federation in the near future.
"In September 2003, the Russian Foreign Ministry once again denied an entry visa to the leader of the Buddhists of the entire world, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, who had been invited by the Buddhist association of Kalmykia," Glazyev said.
"Without casting any doubt on the need for good neighbourly relations with our great eastern neighbour, the People's Republic of China, I also must point out that millions of Russia's Buddhists, who constitute a dominant group of the population in a number of constituent parts of the Russian
Federation, some of which are far from being prosperous, were waiting for the Dalai Lama to come," Glazyev continued.
Glazyev firmly believes that it is senseless to expect other countries to respect a state that insults its own citizens.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president of Russia's southern republic of Kalmykia- where half of the 300,000 population is Tibetan Buddhist - had visited Dharamsala several times to invite His Holiness. But the jeopardy struck when Russia refused to grant visa to the Tibetan leader saying that their decision is ‘in line with national interests’.
Russia’s denial of visa to His Holiness led to massive protests and demonstrations by the Russian Buddhists against their country’s decision to keep them away from His Holiness. His Holiness last visited Kalmykia in 1994.
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