Washington: US President Barack Obama and exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama would attend a public event here next week but no bilateral meeting has been planned between them, the White House has said.
The two Nobel laureates are scheduled to appear at the National Prayer Breakfast in the US Capital on Thursday, where Obama is scheduled to deliver a speech. The 14th Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in his Himalayan homeland and has lived in exile in India ever since, has been invited to be in the audience.
“The President is a strong supporter of the Dalai Lama's teachings and preserving Tibet's unique religious, cultural and linguistic traditions,” Bernadette Meehan, spokesperson of the National Security Council, said.
Obama met the Dalai Lama last February. He has met the Tibetan spiritual leader three times so far. “As is previous years, the President will deliver remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast about the importance of upholding religious freedom.
This year, the organisers also invited His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” Meehan said. “As he has done in the past, the President will see many religious leaders at the event, but we don't have any specific meeting with the Dalai Lama to announce,” he said.
Previous meetings between Obama and the Dalai Lama have been met with fierce Chinese protests that have soured relations between Washington and Beijing.
Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama, 79, of being a separatist seeking to split Tibet from the rest of China and of fomenting unrest in the remotely-located strategic region. After the most recent meeting in February last year, China accused the US of meddling in its affairs. The Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his advocacy for Tibet in the country and around the world.
Tibetans have continued to advocate for more autonomy and independence from the Chinese government, which continues to rule the region.
