US budget keeps $11 million funding for Tibetan govt in exile, communities in India, Nepal

The US budget 2023 or spending bill passed by the US Congress last week made a provision of $11 million for the Tibetan government in exile and Tibetan communities in India and Nepal. The budget made available "not less than $8,000,000" for programmes to promote and preserve Tibetan culture, language for Tibetan communities in India and Nepal and "not less than $3,000,000" for programmes to strengthen the capacity of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

The support for the CTA or Tibetan govt in exile will be administered by the United States Agency for international development (USAID). It has also been suggested in the bill that was passed that USAID should consider supporting a project to provide housing for Tibetan refugee families in India. India has been hosting large Tibetan communities, many of whom left Tibet after it came under Chinese rule in the 1950s. Spiritual Guru, the Dalai Lama, has been staying in India in exile since 1959, when he left the region also known as the rooftop of the world.

The development is part of Washington's continuing policy to support the Tibetan issues. The US has been keen on a final negotiated agreement on Tibet between the Dalai Lama and the government in Beijing and to open a consulate in Lhasa, something unlikely to happen given Beijing's current policy.

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Last year, US Secretary of State Blinken during his Delhi visit met Dalai Lama's representative Ngodup Dongchung while this year U.S. Special Coordinator on Tibet Uzra Zeya called on the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, the hill station that hosts the Tibetan govt in exile.