US Ambassador Sergio Gor is expected to meet the Dalai Lama in Leh on 21 August
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "US Ambassador Sergio Gor is expected to meet the Dalai Lama in Leh on 21 August")
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor met with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Srinagar on Wednesday. Photograph: (X)
The United States has long expressed support for the Dalai Lama’s advocacy of non-violence and dialogue, while officially recognizing Tibet as part of China. A high-profile US diplomatic engagement with the Dalai Lama in this sensitive border region of India will be closely watched in China.
New Delhi: United States Ambassador to India Sergio Gor is scheduled to hold an audience with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on 21 August in Leh, the capital of the Union Territory of Ladakh, India. Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India for more than six decades and maintains a permanent base in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh. He frequently spends summers in Ladakh, a region with a significant Tibetan Buddhist population and cultural ties to Tibet. He is currently in Leh for an extended stay.
Gor, who also serves as Special Envoy for South and Central Asia under the Trump administration, arrived in Jammu and Kashmir on 19 August for his first official visit to the two Union Territories since assuming office in January 2026. He had a meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Srinagar on Wednesday and will be proceeding to Ladakh.
While details of the discussion have not been disclosed, the United States has long expressed support for the Dalai Lama’s advocacy of non-violence and dialogue, while officially recognizing Tibet as part of China. A high-profile US diplomatic engagement with the Dalai Lama in this sensitive border region of India will be closely watched in China, with a possible reaction from Beijing. The audience happens at a time when White House is getting ready to host Chinese President Xi Jinping in September.
It also signals continued US attention to Tibetan issues at a time of complex US-China relations. Previous US ambassadors have met the Dalai Lama, but a meeting in Leh rather than Dharamshala adds a distinct dimension.
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During US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s India visit this year, Tibetan President in exile (officially called the Sikyong) Penpa Tsering was invited to attend the American Independence day celebrations in Delhi.
