Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], May 28 (ANI): Brand Kroeger, Senior Advisor to the US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, attended the swearing-in ceremony of the 17th Kashag of the Central Tibetan Administration held in Dharamshala on Wednesday, a US Embassy spokesperson said.

Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong of the 16th Kashag (Cabinet) of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), was sworn in as the Sikyong of the 17th Kashag on Wednesday at the Tsuglagkhang courtyard in the presence of the Dalai Lama following his reelection, a statement by the Central Tibetan Administration said.

As per a statement by the CTA, after securing 61.025 per cent of the total votes in the preliminary round of the recently concluded Tibetan general election, Sikyong Penpa Tsering, under a provision of the Election Rules and Regulations that did not require him to contest the final round, was elected as the 6th directly elected Sikyong (formerly known as Kalon Tripa).

His new Kashag, the 17th since the establishment of the Central Tibetan Administration (formerly the Tibetan Government in Exile) following the occupation of Tibet by the People's Liberation Army, will continue the Kashag system, an institutional framework sustained for more than 275 years, which is one of the world's enduring models of continuous governance.

Several respected dignitaries and distinguished international guests attended the ceremony, including a cross-party parliamentary delegation from the United Kingdom comprising MP Chris Law of the Scottish National Party and Chair of the APPG Tibet; MP Kerry McCarthy of the Labour Party and former Government Minister; MP Wera Hobhouse of the Liberal Democrats and APPG Tibet Member; and MP Alicia Kearns of the Conservative Party and former Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Representatives of major Tibetan civil society organisations, CTA staff members, students from nearby Tibetan schools, and members of the general Tibetan public were also among the attendees, as per the statement. (ANI)