US puts its weight behind the Dalai Lama

SPIRITUAL HOST: Dalai Lama greets Nancy Pelosi (R) in Dharamsala March 21, 2008.

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Keywords: US, Nancy pelosi

New Delhi: With international pressure's mounting on China over the unrest in Tibet, the United States of America has put its weight behind Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama.

On Friday, the third most important US representative, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi met the Dalai Lama at McLeodganj in Himachal Pradesh.

The meeting comes amidst growing concerns in Washington over the crisis in Tibet.

Pelosi was given a rousing welcome by thousands of Tibetan who have assembled in McLeodganj to protest China's crackdown in Tibet.

She asserted that the US enjoys great relations with the Dalai Lama. The meeting will put more pressure on China, which has already voiced its opposition to the meeting.

"I thank the Tibetans for the warm welcome. There is a great relationship that the US shares with the Dalai Lama. When he was a small boy, the then US President gave him a gold watch. That was over 60 years ago," Pelosi said.

She was also instrumental in the US' decision last year to confer the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Medal, a top US civilian honour.

"Little did we know that we would be coming at such a sad time. Perhaps it's our fate to be here, it is our fate to help the people of Tibet. Thank you for your courage," Pelosi said.

"I have read that in Sanskrit the word 'non violence' means insistence of the truth. The situation in Tibet is a challenge to the conscience in the world," she said.

She was accompanied by nine US Congressmen when she went to meet the Dalai Lama.

On Thursday, the White House Administration had interceded on behalf of Tibetan protesters and requested access to tense areas.

Meanwhile, Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair has also said that he wants an end to violence in Tibet and claimed that China also wants the same.

"I want calm, I want an end to this violence, and what the international community including the British Prime Minister and Chinese Premiere want. I hope the situation resolves itself," Blair told CNN-IBN's Vidya Shankar Aiyer.

The Dalai Lama has already said that he is willing to talk to the Chinese government once the situation returns to normal in Tibet.

(With inputs from Pawan Bali)