Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama congratulates new British PM Liz Truss

Sep 06, 2022

Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], September 6 : Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Tuesday wrote to newly elected British Foreign secretary Liz Truss and offered his congratulations on becoming the new Prime Minister of the UK.

"Historically, we Tibetans have enjoyed a long and unique relationship with Great Britain," he wrote adding that to this date Tibet maintains close ties with the family members of the British Government officials who were posted in Tibet prior to 1959, according to an official statement released by the Office of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
"I am also very appreciative of our British friends' strong interest in and support for the Tibetan people's aspirations for freedom and dignity," Dalai Lama said as he extended his greetings to Truss.
Dalai Lama further added saying Britain will continue to prosper and make a significant contribution to the peace and stability of the interdependent world in the challenging times, as he concluded his statement while wishing luck to the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party.
Liz Truss was announced as the new head of the Conservative Party on September 5.
The British Foreign Secretary defeated former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak through a postal ballot of all Conservative members. Truss secured 81,326 votes while Sunak got 60,399 votes.
"I am honoured to be elected Leader of the Conservative Party. Thank you for putting your trust in me to lead and deliver for our great country. I will take bold action to get all of us through these tough times, grow our economy, and unleash the United Kingdom's potential," Truss wrote on Twitter.
The Tory leadership race was triggered after Boris Johnson was forced to step down on July 7 following a series of resignations of cabinet members, who protested against his scandal-plagued leadership.
Following a dozen hustings and after a six-week long head-to-head competition, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak had explained their long-term visions for Britain. Both contenders went through bouts of 12 nationwide events with the first bout in Leeds, Northern England.
Truss indicated that she will strongly push back against "identity politics of the left" as she has envisioned the legislation for single-sex spaces such as domestic violence shelters. Sunak batted for cutting VAT to revive the country's economic situation.
During her visit to India this year, Truss along with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed satisfaction with the progress achieved so far concerning Roadmap 2030 and agreed to further intensify efforts to deliver results in priority areas of trade and investments, defence, and migration.
Both sides appreciated the substantial progress made in the India-UK FTA negotiations with two productive rounds completed since its launch in January 2022.