New Delhi, US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are set to be part of the US Congress delegation that is scheduled to visit Dharamshala next week to meet Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama.
Official sources said on Friday that a high-level US bipartisan delegation will be in Dharamshala on June 18 and 19.
The visit by influential US lawmakers to the Himalayan town comes ahead of the Dalai Lama's planned visit to the US for medical treatment.
Tibet's government-in-exile is based in Dharamshala and represents more than a million Tibetans living in approximately 30 countries. The United States has been strongly supporting the Tibetan cause and condemning all oppression and coercion of Tibetans by China.The US Congress passed a law this month calling for a peaceful resolution of the dispute over the status and governance of Tibet. The 'Resolve Tibet Act' also calls on Beijing to resume talks with the Dalai Lama.
US lawmakers have been regularly visiting Dharamshala to reflect Washington's support for the Tibetan issue.
From 2002 to 2010, nine rounds of talks were held between representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government but no concrete results were achieved. No formal talks have taken place since then.
In its negotiations with China between 2002 and 2010, the Tibetan side advocated genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people, in line with the Dalai Lama's Middle-Way Policy.The Dalai Lama has been in favor of resolving the Tibetan issue through dialogue.
In April, Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong, or political head of Tibet's government-in-exile, said his administration had launched back-channel talks with Beijing to explore ways to resolve the Tibet issue.
The comments were seen as a sign of the two sides' willingness to re-engage after the formal dialogue process was stalled for more than a decade in the wake of anti-China protests in Tibet and Beijing's hardline approach to the Buddhist region.
A few days after Tsering's comments, Beijing said it would only talk with representatives of the Dalai Lama and not the government-in-exile.
After a failed anti-Chinese rebellion in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet and came to India where he established a government-in-exile.China has in the past accused the Dalai Lama of engaging in "separatist" activities and trying to divide Tibet and considers him a divisive figure.
However, the Tibetan spiritual leader has stressed that he is not seeking independence but rather "genuine autonomy for all Tibetans living in Tibet's three traditional provinces" under a "middle-way approach".
Relations between the two sides became further strained in 2008 due to protests against China in Tibetan areas.
Official sources said on Friday that a high-level US bipartisan delegation will be in Dharamshala on June 18 and 19.
The visit by influential US lawmakers to the Himalayan town comes ahead of the Dalai Lama's planned visit to the US for medical treatment.
Tibet's government-in-exile is based in Dharamshala and represents more than a million Tibetans living in approximately 30 countries. The United States has been strongly supporting the Tibetan cause and condemning all oppression and coercion of Tibetans by China.The US Congress passed a law this month calling for a peaceful resolution of the dispute over the status and governance of Tibet. The 'Resolve Tibet Act' also calls on Beijing to resume talks with the Dalai Lama.
US lawmakers have been regularly visiting Dharamshala to reflect Washington's support for the Tibetan issue.
From 2002 to 2010, nine rounds of talks were held between representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government but no concrete results were achieved. No formal talks have taken place since then.
In its negotiations with China between 2002 and 2010, the Tibetan side advocated genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people, in line with the Dalai Lama's Middle-Way Policy.The Dalai Lama has been in favor of resolving the Tibetan issue through dialogue.
In April, Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong, or political head of Tibet's government-in-exile, said his administration had launched back-channel talks with Beijing to explore ways to resolve the Tibet issue.
The comments were seen as a sign of the two sides' willingness to re-engage after the formal dialogue process was stalled for more than a decade in the wake of anti-China protests in Tibet and Beijing's hardline approach to the Buddhist region.
A few days after Tsering's comments, Beijing said it would only talk with representatives of the Dalai Lama and not the government-in-exile.
After a failed anti-Chinese rebellion in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet and came to India where he established a government-in-exile.China has in the past accused the Dalai Lama of engaging in "separatist" activities and trying to divide Tibet and considers him a divisive figure.
However, the Tibetan spiritual leader has stressed that he is not seeking independence but rather "genuine autonomy for all Tibetans living in Tibet's three traditional provinces" under a "middle-way approach".
Relations between the two sides became further strained in 2008 due to protests against China in Tibetan areas.
