India, April 25 -- The Tibetan government-in-exile has opened back channel communications with China more than a decade after the breakdown of formal talks though there is no expectation of an immediate breakthrough, according to the head of the Central Tibetan Administration(CTA).

Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong or political leader of the government-in-exile based in this Himachal Pradesh town, said his interlocutor has been dealing with "people in Beijing", and "other elements" on the Chinese side have sought to reach out to the Tibetan leadership.

"We do have back channel [communications] since last year, but we have no immediate expectations. It has to be long-term. We keep the communications going, it has been almost more than a year si...