Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghachalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwaty called on Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, last evening. The meeting, held at the residence of the Dalai Lama in Mcleodganj, lasted for one hour.
The Dalai Lama has started meeting the public from December 15. His interaction with the public had remained suspended following the outbreak of coronavirus in 2020.
President of Tibetan government-in-exile Penpa Tsering, his cabinet and speaker of Tibetan parliament-in-exile Sonam Temphel also met the RSS chief.
According to sources, Dalai Lama slammed China and said that everybody’s independence should be honoured while calling an ‘end to expansionism’. The RSS chief has reportedly asserted that Tibet is a brother country. “We are with Tibet, and would always stand by it,” he said.
According to a senior RSS leader, who accompanied Bhagwat, “His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama told them that India is the model of religious harmony and that India should make it known to the world.”
President of the Central Tibetan Administration Sikyong Penpa Tsering assumed that the talks could be about the general issues saying “they must have talked about the larger interest of humanity on major issues.”
After the Dalai Lama-Bhagwat meeting, Tsering met the RSS chief and thanked the government and people of India for their support. “We also discussed the status of Independent Tibet before China’s occupation and he assured us all the support from the public,” he said.
Dr Bhagwat was on a five-day visit to Kangra and Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh.