The Dalai Lama, 88, said his successor can be found in India (File).
New Delhi:
A delegation of US lawmakers met with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Wednesday in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh.
The meeting angered Beijing, which called on the United States on Tuesday to “fully recognize the anti-China and separatist nature of the Dalai clique” and refrain from “any form of contact with it.”
Why is the delegation in India?
The seven-member bipartisan group of American lawmakers is visiting India to meet Nobel Peace Prize winner the Dalai Lama.
The United States has long supported the rights of the Tibetan people to practice their religion and culture and has accused China of human rights violations in the remote Himalayan region that borders India.
A bipartisan bill passed this month by the U.S. House of Representatives aims to pressure Beijing to hold talks with Tibetan leaders, stalled since 2010, to secure a negotiated settlement on Tibet and encourage China to address Tibetan identity aspirations. historical, cultural, religious and linguistic. .
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Among the delegation are the two authors of the act, titled ‘Promoting a Resolution for the Tibet-China Disputes Act’ or Resolving Tibet Act, together with Nancy Pelosi, former speaker of the US House of Representatives.
The delegation also met with officials from the Tibetan government in exile, which operates in India.
Who is the Dalai Lama?
Born in 1935 as Lhamo Thondup, the Dalai Lama was identified as the reincarnation of his two-year-old predecessor and enthroned in 1940 as the 14th Dalai Lama in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.
Beijing invaded Tibet in 1950, and the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against his rule, having since lived in exile in the Himalayan city of Dharamshala.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
Why is the visit controversial?
That angered China at a time when Beijing and Washington are struggling to improve ties, and India’s relations with China have also been strained since a military standoff on the Himalayan border killed 24 soldiers in 2020.
US President Joe Biden is expected to soon sign the Resolve Tibet Act in a bid to find a resolution to the dispute, although Washington considers the Tibet Autonomous Region to be part of China.
“This visit should highlight the bipartisan support in the US Congress for Tibet to have a say in its own future,” said the head of the US delegation and one of the bill’s authors, Michael McCaul, before its departure from Washington on Friday. .
What are China’s objections?
China accuses the Dalai Lama of being a “splitist” or separatist, but he says he wants genuine autonomy for his remote Himalayan homeland.
Although Beijing has always objected to his meetings with foreign leaders, this has not stopped the Dalai Lama from meeting with them, including US presidents, although Biden has not yet met with him.
However, the most controversial issue is the task of naming his successor.
Although Beijing has said it has the right to approve a successor, in a move designed to strengthen its control over Tibet, the Dalai Lama says only the Tibetan people can make that call and that his successor can be found in India.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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