New Delhi, Apr 29 (PTI) US Special Coordinator for Tibetan issues Uzra Zeya is set to visit India next month to hold talks with the Dalai Lama and other senior leaders of the Tibetan government in exile in Dharamsala, people familiar with the development said on Friday.
Zeya, the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, has been coordinating the Biden administration’s policies, programmes and projects concerning Tibetan issues.
The people cited above said she expected to visit Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh from May 18 to 19.
The US government is yet to officially announce the visit.
It is learnt that the visit of Zeya is being finalised in consultation with India.
Zeya was sworn as the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights by Secretary of State Antony Blinken on July 14 last year.
On December 20, Secretary Blinken announced that she will serve concurrently as the US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues.
The US has been consistently supporting the Tibetan cause notwithstanding China’s strong objection.
In 2020, the US came out with a legislation reaffirming the absolute right of the Tibetan people to choose a successor to the Dalai Lama and the preservation of Tibet’s environment.
After the US Congress passed the legislation, China had accused Washington of meddling in its internal affairs.
China has been insisting that the selection of the next Dalai Lama has to be decided within Chinese territory and that it has to have a say in the matter.
In January, the Chinese embassy in India wrote to several Indian lawmakers after they attended an event hosted by the Tibetan Parliament- in-exile in Delhi.
The Chinese embassy, in the letter to the MPs of the All-Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet, expressed concern over their attendance at the reception and asked them not to provide support to the Tibetan forces.
Days later, India asked the embassy to refrain from such actions and said the substance, tone and tenor of the letter are “inappropriate”.