US Lawmakers Discuss Dalai Lama Issue on Visit to India

A bipartisan delegation from the U.S. Congress, led by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, flew to India on Tuesday, May 9, to meet with the Dalai Lama to discuss human rights, India Times reported.

“As we visit his Holiness the Dalai Lama, our bipartisan delegation comes in his spirit of faith and peace,” said Pelosi.

“We come on this visit to be inspired by His Holiness and demonstrate our commitment to the Tibetan people, to their faith, their culture and their language.”

The group made their way to Dharamsala, a small Himalayan town where the Dalai Lama has established his headquarters. He introduced the hill town as his second home. “My real home--other side,” he told Pelosi.

“Here the last 58 years I am the longest guest of Indian government. But, emotionally, some concern about deep inside Tibet, and also in China proper there are 400 million Buddhists.”

Pelosi and her delegation’s visit risks angering China, who considers the Dalai Lama as a separatist. This might have negative results, with Trump planning to have China help restrain North Korea and its ongoing nuclear armament.

It’s common for China to denounce countries, cities and organizations that host or meet with the Dalai Lama. Just recently, Beijing voiced its displeasure on New Delhi for hosting the Dalai Lama on his way to Arunachal Pradesh.

The U.S.’s policy on human rights is also hanging on a loose thread. It is unclear how it will go about, as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson downplayed the role of human rights in the country’s foreign policy.

It is unlikely that the Dalai Lama will get invited to the White House anytime soon. Although the Nobel peace laureate expressed his desire to meet Donald Trump after the U.S. elections last November, the White House still has its doors closed to the Dalai Lama.

Tillerson, in a speech last week, even stated that the U.S. might bow out from being one of the Dalai Lama’s last friends from the West.