US lawmakers to meet Dalai Lama on India trip next week

Meeting comes ahead of a planned trip by the Dalai Lama to the US for medical treatment for his knees

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Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, centre, in Dharamshala, India on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Published: 2:08am, 14 Jun 2024Updated: 3:35pm, 14 Jun 2024

Republican congressman Michael McCaul is expected to lead a bipartisan US congressional delegation to India in the coming days, where he and other lawmakers, including Democratic former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, plan to meet Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

McCaul, Pelosi and a group of other US lawmakers will visit Dharamsala – the town in the northern Indian Himalayas where the 88-year-old Tibetan monk lives in exile – on June 18 and 19, an official of the Tibetan government in-exile, known as the Central Tibetan Administration, told Reuters.

The meeting comes days ahead of a planned trip by the Dalai Lama to the US to undergo medical treatment for his knees, but it is unclear whether he will have any engagements during that time.

US lawmakers have regularly visited Dharamsala and touted the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama’s work to draw global support for linguistic and cultural autonomy in his remote, mountainous homeland. China considers him a dangerous separatist.

US Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul. Photo: Reuters

The lawmakers’ trip is likely to coincide with a separate visit to India by top Biden administration officials, including National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, who have sought to boost US-India ties amid Washington’s growing rivalry with Beijing.