Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat on Monday met Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama at his residence in Gaden Phodrang in McLeodganj in Dharamshala in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh and expressed India’s support to Tibet.
The RSS chief is in Kangra on a five-day tour where he attended a seminar with 60 intellectuals yesterday including Tibetan government-in-exile president Penpa Tsering and Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel.
Bhagwat was accompanied during meeting with Dalai Lama by Indresh Kumar, a senior leader of the RSS.
During their meeting with the RSS leaders, the Tibetan leaders expressed the Tibetan people’s gratitude to the Indian government and people of India for their hospitality and support to Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people.
Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Penpa Tsering said, ‘It’s very natural that when Mohan Bhagwat is in Dharamshala, he will meet Dalai Lama’.
He stated that Bhagwat’s visit indeed came about after Dalai Lama started granting in-person meetings since 15 December, the first of which was offered to Tsering, making this his second in-person meeting after the emergence of the ongoing pandemic.
Although the conversation between Dalai Lama and the RSS delegates are not disclosed, Penpa Tsering assumed the talk could be about the general issues by saying ‘they must have talked about the larger interest of humanity on major issues.’
Indresh Kumar, speaking about the conversation to the media, said Dalai Lama told them that India is the model of religious harmony and that India should make it known to the world.
He added that RSS chief Bhagwat also expressed India’s solemn support to Tibet.