A US bipartisan delegation, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, reached Kangra, Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday to meet Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in Dharamshala.  China has all along protested against such interactions claiming Xijang(Tibet)affairs are an internal matter of China.

Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, is leading the bipartisan congressional delegation to India.

"The delegation includes Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), House Rules Committee Ranking Member Jim McGovern (D-MA), House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific Ranking Member Ami Bera (D-CA), and Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY)," the official press release of the House Foreign Affairs Committee read.

“While there, the delegation will meet with His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, Indian government officials, and representatives of US businesses in the country,” it added.

“India is the world’s largest democracy and an important strategic partner of the United States,” stated Chairman McCaul. “I look forward to meeting with government officials and the American business community to learn how we can continue to strengthen our relationship with India. I am also honoured to have the opportunity to meet with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama,” the release quoted McCaul as saying.

McCaul said Tibetans are “democracy-loving people” who wish to practice their religion freely. “This visit should highlight the bipartisan support in the US Congress for Tibet to have a say in their own future,” he added.

“I look forward to joining Chairman McCaul and Speaker Emerita Pelosi to demonstrate the strong bipartisan support for the US-India relationship,” stated Ranking Member Meeks.

He said that the relationship between the US and India over the past 25 years has transformed into one of the most consequential.

“I’m also honoured to have a chance to meet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to hear his views on how the American People can help advance the Tibetan people’s struggle for autonomy,” he said.

The Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama was scheduled to travel to the United States for medical treatment, his office said in a statement on June 3.

According to the statement, no engagements will be scheduled from June 20 onward until further notice. “Update to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Schedule – This is to inform all concerned that no engagements, including public audiences, will be scheduled from June 20 onwards until further notice. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is scheduled to travel to the United States for medical treatment on his knees,” the office of Dalai Lama said in a social media post.

American lawmakers have regularly been visiting Dharamsala in reflection of Washington’s support of the Tibetan cause.

China had reacted strongly when senior US diplomat on human rights Uzra Zeya had met the Tibetan spiritual leader last year, stating that “Xizang’s (Tibet) affairs are purely internal affairs of China and no external forces have the right to interfere”.

Tibet’s government-in-exile is based in Dharamshala and it represents over one lakh Tibetans living in around 30 countries. The US has all along strongly supported the Tibetan cause and condemning all oppression and coercion of Tibetans by China.

From 2002 to 2010, the Dalai Lama’s representatives and the Chinese government held nine rounds of dialogue that did not produce any concrete outcomes. No formal talks have been held since then.