US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Dalai Lama's representative in Delhi
Follow UsStory highlights
Blinken's meeting with Dongchung is the most significant contact with the Tibetan leadership since the Dalai Lama met then-president Barack Obama in Washington in 2016.
In a development that China will be keenly noting, US Secretary of State Blinken met Dalai Lama's representative Ngodup Dongchung during his visit to India's capital New Delhi.
Spokesperson of Tibetan Government in Exile (Central Tibetan Administration) Tenzin Lekshay confirmed to WION that both sides met briefly on Wednesday morning in India's national capital.
This is the second such meeting between the US government and the Tibetan side in months.
In November, Lobsang Sangay, the former head of the Tibetan government in exile, visited the White House, the first such visit in six decades.
Later during the meeting with Civil society members, Geshe Dorjee Damdul, Director of Tibet House, Cultural Centre of His Holiness the Dalai Lama was present. The picture was tweeted from the US Secretary of state's Twitter handle as well.
I was pleased to meet civil society leaders today. The U.S. and India share a commitment to democratic values; this is part of the bedrock of our relationship and reflective of India’s pluralistic society and history of harmony. Civil society helps advance these values. pic.twitter.com/5NL2WiQ13o
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) July 28, 2021
Blinken's meeting with Dongchung is the most significant contact with the Tibetan leadership since the Dalai Lama met then-president Barack Obama in Washington in 2016.
Geshe Dorjee Damdul is considered close to the 14th Dalai Lama and has accompanied him on various visits and acted as his interpreter.
The development comes even as the US has been calling expressing its concern over human rights issues in Tibet and the restive Xinjiang province
Chinese troops seized Tibet in 1950 in what Beijing calls a "peaceful liberation". In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled into exile in India following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
The CTA and Tibetan advocacy groups have received a boost in international support in recent months amid rising criticism of China's human rights record, particularly from the United States.
)