A heavy rain Sunday morning did little to dispirit the thousands who gathered in the main courtyard of Tsuglagkhang, the Dalai Lama temple, to observe the 90th birth anniversary of the 14th Dalai Lama.
Defying Chinese protest, United States President Barack Obama on Saturday met Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the White House and shared "genuine concerns" about human rights in Tibet. The meeting lasted for 44 minutes, White House officials said.
Obama walks a tight-rope following a Chinese warning against meeting the Dalai Lama
"The President told China's leaders during his trip last year that he would meet with the Dalai Lama, and he intends to do so. The Dalai Lama is an internationally respected religious and cultural leader, and the President will meet him in that capacity," Bill Burton, the White House Deputy Press Secretary said.
Obama met the 80-year-old spiritual leader in the historic Map Room of the White House. The meeting was closed for the press.
Top aides to United States President Barack Obama on Monday held talks with the Dalai Lama ahead of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader's planned US visit in October.
Top aides to United States President Barack Obama on Monday held talks with the Dalai Lama ahead of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader's planned US visit in October. Led by Valerie B Jarret, White House adviser and assistant to the President for inter-governmental affairs and public engagement, Obama's three senior aides had a two-hour closed-door meeting with the Dalai at his residence at Mcleodganj, about 22 km from Dharamsala.
United States President Barack Obama will on Saturday meet the Dalai Lama, defying Chinese pressure to shun the Tibetan spiritual leader. "This meeting underscores the President's strong support for the preservation of Tibet's unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans," a White House statement said. Obama last met the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace laureate, in February 2010.
China has warned US President Barack Obama against meeting Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, saying this would "seriously undermine" Sino-US ties as a row escalated between the two major powers.
China on Thursday continued its tirade against the Dalai Lama, who is scheduled to meet United States President Barack Obama in mid-February, calling the meeting 'pathetic' and the Buddhist leader 'a trouble maker'Zhu Weiqun, Chinese executive vice minister for relations with foreign countries, said, "Tibetans will decide the future of the region, with or without the Dalai Lama".He claimed that the Chinese government had given the "Dalai Lama a chance to correct his mistakes"
The Obama administration has apparently decided to giver preference to its budding relations with the Communist country China over its long-time relations with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
US President Barack Obama will meet Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the White House on February 18, objections from China notwithstanding.
'The Tibetan movement will never turn violent during the Dalai Lama's life-time.'
United States lawmakers rallied behind the Dalai Lama and stepped up pressure on President Barack Obama to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader.
Terming it as an important meeting, the Dalai Lama's Special Envoy, Lodi Gyari, said the Tibetan leader would speak about Tibet, and as two Nobel Peace Prize laureates, he and the President are likely to discuss global concerns.
China on Wednesday expressed its firm opposition to foreign leaders' contact with the Dalai Lama, days after a key aide to Barack Obama said the US President would be ready to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader "at an appropriate time."
China said the US delegation's visit to Dharamshala and their meeting with the Dalai Lama has "sent a very wrong signal to the outside world about supporting Tibetan independence and violated the US government's commitment not to support Tibet's independence."
'There was considerable disappointment in the Dalai Lama's entourage when it turned out that the two officials had specially flown to Dharamshala to request the Dalai Lama not to visit Washington, DC before Obama's first visit to China scheduled for November.'
"China's position on Tibet-related issues is very clear. We are firmly opposed to any foreign official meeting with the Dalai Lama," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told media-persons at a biweekly briefing."We are opposed to the Dalai Lama's engagement in separatist activities in any country," she said.
China warned US against Obama's public appearance with Dalai Lama.
United States President Barack Obama would encourage both the Chinese leadership and the Dalai Lama to continue to talk.
Sidestepping Chinese opposition, United States President Barack Obama will meet the Dalai Lama at the White House on Wednesday, a move likely to infuriate China which considers the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader as a separatist.
Ignoring strong objections by China, United States President Barack Obama on Thursday met exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, who is set to seek his help in resolving the vexed Tibet issue. The two Nobel Peace Prize laureates met away from the cameras in the White House Map Room, in what is being billed as a low-key meeting, which the US administration calls private. But an angry China has warned that the meeting could worsen relations.
Terming as 'inaccurate' reports that United States President Barack Obama has postponed his talks with the Dalai Lama, the White House has said the US president holds the Tibetan leader in great esteem and insisted that a meeting was never on the cards during the Nobel laureate's current trip to US.
'The first time that China alleged the Dalai Lama was 'anti-national' and 'unpatriotic' was after he affirmed that Arunachal Pradesh and Tawang are part of India,' points out former RA&W official Jayadeva Ranade.
The United States encourages open exchange between China and the Dalai Lama on the issue of Tibet, an Obama Administration official said today.
Even as United States President Barack Obama refused to meet the Dalai Lama fearing diplomatic backlash from China, the exiled Tibetan leader was honoured with a human rights award at the Capitol Hill on Tuesday. The spiritual leader received a human rights award from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and met with powerful lawmakers on a visit to Washington overshadowed by Obama's decision to delay a meeting with him.
The Dalai Lama on Tuesday said he did not want separation from China but religious and environment freedom for his people as Beijing today demanded that US "undo the damage" done by a meeting between President Barack Obama and the Tibetan spiritual leader.
Sonia Gandhi, chief of India's key ruling alliance member Congress party, and Ratan Tata, who heads one of the country's top business houses, have been named in a list of 100 most influential in the world by Time magazine. The list also includes international figures like Tibetan leader Dalai Lama, US President George Bush as well as three presidential aspirants Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
China on Saturday summoned the United States Charge d'Affaires in Beijing and lodged a strong diplomatic protest over the meeting between President Barack Obama and Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama.
China on Friday cautioned foreign countries against hosting the Dalai Lama and interfering in its domestic affairs on the vexed Tibet issue, a day after United States President Barack Obama and the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader appeared together in public for the first time.
Hours before US President Barack Obama's meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama at the White House, China demanded its immediate cancellation, warning that the unjustified interference in its domestic affairs will cause "great damage" to bilateral ties.
Tibetan exiles have expressed unhappiness over United States President Barack Obama calling Tibet an integral part of China and calling for a resumption of a dialogue to resolve the Tibet crisis while on a visit to Beijing.
Sticking to its opposition to any meeting between the Dalai Lama and Barack Obama, China on Thursday sought to draw a parallel between the alleged "serf system" in Tibet and slavery in America, saying the "black" US president should understand its stance on the Tibetan leader.
Officials of the US State Department have been briefing the media about the kind of honours that will be accorded to Dr Singh when he visits Washington. These are meant to show that there has been no change in US policies towards India under the Obama administration. The reality is that on every matter, which is of concern to India, greater attention is being paid to China's sensitivities and concerns.
Although Mahatma Gandhi was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize but the coveted honour has gone to several individuals who believed in and propagated the Gandhian philosophy of peace and non-violence globally.
Seeking a 'meaningful' autonomy for Tibet, the Dalai Lama on Thursday asked China to shed its one-sided approach and adopt a more holistic view on the issue, even as Beijing lashed out at the United States, terming its engagement with him as a gross violation of international norms.
The Obama administration has made it clear that there has been no change in the United States' policy towards Tibet even as it decides to hold talks with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama after President Barack Obama's visit to China scheduled in November.
Tibetans, both in the occupied Tibetan areas of China and in the diaspora, are increasingly frustrated by what they perceive as the ambivalent attitude of United States President Barack Obama on the continued unrest in the Tibetan areas of China, and the violations of the human rights of the Tibetans by Beijing, says B Raman
Claude Arpi travelled to Dharamsala to record the newly elected Tibetan prime minister's views on the election campaign, his objectives, his government's relation with China and the changes he would like to bring about in Tibetan society. Dr Lobsang Sangay candidly answered all the questions put forth to him
