US lawmakers meet with Tibet’s Dalai Lama in India

By Charlotte Greenfield

DHARAMSALA, India (Reuters) – A group of influential U.S. lawmakers met with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at his home in the Indian Himalayas on Wednesday, officials said, despite warnings from China to avoid any contact with the Buddhist monk whom she describes as a separatist.

The bipartisan group of seven met the 88-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner at his monastery in the northern city of Dharamsala, they said, a day after being warmly welcomed by schoolchildren, monks and Buddhist nuns.

The team, led by Michael McCaula Republican representative from Texas, who also chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, includes former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Among the issues lawmakers are expected to discuss with the Dalai Lama is a U.S. bill that aims to pressure China to resolve the conflict in Tibet and is awaiting the president. Joe Biden” McCaul said Tuesday.

Beijing, which describes the Dalai Lama as a dangerous “separatist” or “separatist,” said it was seriously concerned by this visit and this bill.

He urged lawmakers not to make contact with what he called the “Dalai Lama clique” and for Biden not to sign the bill.

The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet. Chinese officials chafe at any interaction he has with officials from other countries.

The Dalai Lama has met with U.S. officials, including presidents, during previous visits to the United States, but Biden has not met with him since taking office in 2021.

He is due to travel to the United States this week for medical treatment, but it is unclear whether he will have any commitments at that time.

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield in Dharamsala, India; writing by YP Rajesh; editing by Clarence Fernandez)