Dharamsala, Jan 31 (IANS) Globe-trotting monk the Dalai Lama and US President Barack Obama will be together at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington next week, the second time in less than a year, his aides said here Saturday.
"His Holiness is on a religious tour to the US and will attend the National Prayer Breakfast Feb 5 where the US President will also participate," a senior functionary in the Dalai Lama's office told IANS.
He said so far there is no scheduled meeting between the spiritual leader and the US president.
However, the US has already played down an official engagement between the two.
"As he has done in the past, the president will see many religious leaders at the event, but we don't have any specific meeting with the Dalai Lama to announce," media reports, quoting National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan, said.
Obama has met the Dalai Lama thrice. Every time the meetings prompted sharp reaction from the Chinese government, which views the Nobel Peace laureate as a hostile element who is bent on splitting Tibet from China.
Obama met the Dalai Lama in February last year, saying the US supports his "middle-way" approach of neither assimilation nor independence for Tibetans in China.
The National Prayer Breakfast, an annual event held on the first Thursday of February in its 62nd year, brings together over 3,200 people from all 50 US states and 140 countries.
The Tibetan government-in-exile, based in this Himachal Pradesh town, views the presence of their spiritual leader and the US president at the religious ceremony as occasion to highlight the prevailing "tense" situation in Tibet.
It also believes reiteration of the US stand favouring early resumption of the talks between the Dalai Lama's envoys and the Chinese.
China and the Dalai Lama's envoys have held nine rounds of talks since 2002 to resolve the Tibetan issue. But after the last round of talks - the ninth - held in Beijing in January 2010 the deadlock continues.
The spiritual leader has met all the US presidents since George Bush (1991). He has met Bill Clinton and George W. Bush several times, the Dalai Lama office said.
In 2007, he received the US Congressional Gold Medal, even in the face of protests by China.
The Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. The Tibetan administration-in-exile is based in Dharamsala town.
Varun Dhawan-Janhvi Kapoor's film 'Bawal' became a hit on Prime Video, and the actor thanked the audience by sharing the video
Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor's film Baawal, released on Amazon Prime Video, has created a ruckus in the OTT space. The film is being liked a lot, due to which Bawal has made a record viewership.
PM Modi said, " The New Education Policy is important for the overall development of students. Will soon start new initiatives in the field of education
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that many positive changes have occurred in education in the last five years. The new National Education Policy (NEP) is making a significant contribution to the
Realme launched Realme C35 smartphone, in addition to 4 cameras, these features are available
Realme has launched another budget smartphone in India. This phone is Realme C35. Here we are giving you complete information about its features and offers available with it. The company has launched
PM Modi In US: Discussion on issues that will make the world a better place; Excited diaspora reflects the unbreakable bond between India and US
Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared the highlights of his US visit on social media and said that the visit was positive. In this, many topics were discussed to make the earth better by attending
Nagpur violence: 'Attack happened between 10.30 and 11.30', eyewitnesses said- police arrived one and a half hours after stone pelting and arson.
"Between 10:30 and 11:30 pm, the mob attacked pelted stones, and set vehicles on fire. People were beaten up. The mob had covered their faces and first of all, they targeted and broke the CCTV
Crypto Crash: Mars proved inauspicious for the crypto market, top-10 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin-Ethereum collapsed
Tuesday also proved to be a very bad day for people investing in cryptocurrencies. There was such a tsunami in the crypto market, which is not possible to be compensated for at the moment.
Gonda Train Accident: Passengers' troubles increased as more than 100 trains were affected, a special train left for Assam
Due to the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express accident, the wheels of trains running on this route have stopped. Due to the breakage of the track and the coaches scattered on the track, many trains going to
India's temples have 2000 tonnes of gold, this is three times the central bank's gold reserve: World Gold Council
new Delhi. Two weeks ago, a tweet by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan made a lot of headlines. In the tweet, Chavan wrote, "According to the World Gold Council India's religious
Heavy rain alert in 5 states including MP: 11 people died due to lightning in Bihar, 7 died due to floods in Godavari river of Andhra Pradesh
It is raining in most of the states of the country. There is a flood-like situation in many places. According to the Meteorological Department, heavy rain may occur in some areas of Goa, Madhya
Another action by Bangladesh after the arrest of the saint, the bank accounts of 16 ISKCON members frozen
According to Bangladesh media reports, on Friday (November 29), Bangladesh authorities ordered the bank accounts of a Hindu leader and 16 members associated with ISKCON to be frozen for 30 days. The