NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met a representative of the Dalai Lama in New Delhi on Wednesday, a move likely to anger Beijing which considers the Tibetan spiritual leader a dangerous separatist.
Blinken met briefly with Ngodup Dongchung, who presented him with a scarf from the Dalai Lama, a senior State Department official said. Dongchung serves as a representative of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), also known as the Tibetan government in exile.
"The Dalai Lama obviously is a globally revered spiritual leader and so the gesture was gratefully received and appreciated," said the official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
The meeting was one of the most conspicuous contacts between US and Tibetan officials since President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama in Washington in 2016. China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chinese troops seized Tibet in 1950 in what Beijing calls a "peaceful liberation". In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled into exile in India following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
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