Dalai Lama Not Meeting Obama This Week

The Dalai Lama arrives for his press conference at the Bell Center in Montreal, 03 Oct 2009 The Dalai Lama will visit Washington, DC this week, but he will not meet with U.S. President Barack Obama.

Tibet's exiled spiritual leader is scheduled for meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill and other appearances in the U.S. capital.

A U.S. delegation visited the Dalai Lama's home in India last month to confirm that there will be no meeting with the president, until after Mr. Obama's first official trip to Beijing, which is scheduled for November. 

This is the first time since 1991 that the Dalai Lama will be in Washington but not meet with the president of the United States. Supporters of the Dalai Lama  say they consider the lack of a meeting a slight by the Obama administration, which is trying to improve relations with China. 

The Chinese government often takes retaliatory actions against countries whose leaders meet with the Dalai Lama.  

President Obama met with the Dalai Lama while he was still serving in the U.S. Senate.

In 2007, President George W. Bush became the first U.S. president to hold a public ceremony with the Dalai Lama, when he awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award granted by the  U.S. Congress.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP.