Top US lawmaker meets Dalai Lama

By BBC News
March 21, 2008

A top US lawmaker is holding talks with the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said China's crackdown in Tibet was a "disgrace"

Ms Pelosi is only outranked by the US president and the vice-president.

Tibet's government-in-exile - which operates from Dharamsala - sees the visit as a show of sympathy from the US, says the BBC's Damian Grammaticas.

Ms Pelosi met the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi on Thursday.

'A challenge'

She flew into Dharamsala on Friday morning and was given a red-carpet welcome.

"Today we are here at a sad time to join you in shedding the bright light of truth on what is happening in Tibet," Ms Pelosi told a huge gathering at the main Tibetan temple in the town.

"The situation in Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world. What is happening, the world needs to know," she said.

"If freedom loving people do not speak out against China's oppression of Tibetan people, we lose the moral right to speak of human rights."

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