Washington: Stressing the need to be quite up-front on the Tibet issue, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today made it clear that there are no two ways of looking at what happened in the Himalayan region. "It's absolutely clear that there are human rights abuses in Tibet.

That's clear cut. We need to be up-front and absolutely straight about what's going on. Should not shilly-shally about it," Rudd said at the end of his White House talks with the President George W Bush.

"We've made our positions clear on the public record, the Australian government has, about the need for restraint in the handling of this. I think it would be appropriate for the Chinese government to engage the Dalai Lama or his representatives in an informal set of discussions about future possibilities when it comes to internal arrangements within Tibet. We recognize China's sovereignty over Tibet," he added.

Bush agreed with what the Australian leader said and emphasised that this was exactly what was conveyed to Chinese President Hu Jintao during a recent telephonic conversation. "He couldn't have said it better, and that's exactly what I told Hu Jintao a couple of days ago, that it's in his country's interest that he sit down again with representatives of the Dalai Lama," Bush said.

Source : PTI