US Congress delegation to meet Dalai Lama

A US Congressional delegation reached here on Tuesday on a two-day visit during which its eight members will meet Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

Led by House of Representatives' top Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, the delegation includes Jim Sensenbrenner, Eliot Engel, Jim McGovern, Betty McCollum, Judy Chu, Joyce Beatty and Pramila Jayapal.

Pelosi, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, is a long-time supporter of the Tibetan cause and last visited Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh in 2008.

Congresswoman Jayapal is the first Indian-American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives.

The US delegation was received at the Gaggal airport near here by Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) Secretary of International Relations Sonam Dagpo and Information Secretary Dhardon Shearling.

The delegation will also meet CTA President and Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay. The Tibetan government-in-exile is not recognised by any country.

A day earlier, the delegation visited a Tibetan settlement in Kathmandu.

The Dalai Lama has lived in India since he fled Tibet in 1959.

--IANS

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