Welcome to meeting number 18 of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. Pursuant to the motion adopted on April 25, the committee is meeting with the delegation from the Central Tibetan Administration.
As always, interpretation is available through the globe icon at the bottom of your screen. For members participating in person, keep in mind the Board of International Economy's guidelines for mask use and health protocols.
I'd like to take this opportunity to remind all participants in this meeting that screenshots or taking photos of your screen is not permitted.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you are not speaking, your mike should be on mute. As a reminder, all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair.
I would now like to welcome our witnesses and would like to thank them for taking the time to be here with us today.
At the table, we have Sikyong Penpa Tsering, president of the Central Tibetan Administration; the Venerable Tenzin Rabgyal, abbot of the Panchen Lama monastery; and Dr. Namgyal Choedup, representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Office of Tibet in Washington.
I'd like to recognize that we also have several other members of the delegation in our audience today, and I thank them as well.
Sikyong, I would like to turn the floor over to you for five minutes for your opening statement. Please proceed.