Himachal CM Sukhu meets Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama

Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], May 24 (ANI): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu on Friday met Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama at his residence in Dharamshala.
Speaking to ANI, CM Sukhu said that the Dalai Lama praised Himachal, saying it a very beautiful state and said that India is a very beautiful country that respects all religions.
"I took the blessings. He (Dalai Lama) said that Himachal Pradesh is a very beautiful state, India is a very beautiful country and there is a lot of respect for all religions in our culture," Sukhu told ANI.
The Tibetan spiritual leader has always received huge attention from people from the political background.
Earlier, in April, BJP candidate from Mandi Lok Sabha constituency, Kangana Ranaut met the spiritual leader.
"It was divine, an encounter I'll forever treasure. Being in the presence of such a remarkable being exuding sheer divinity was deeply emotional for me and ex-CM (Jairam Thakur). A cherished moment for a lifetime," she said after meeting him.
The 14th Dalai Lama known to the Tibetan people as Gyalwa Rinpoche, is the current Dalai Lama, also the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibet.
China considers Dalai Lama, who has been living in exile in India for decades, a separatist intending to split the formerly independent region from the control of China, as per UCA News.
Chinese forces invaded and annexed Tibet in the 1950s under the pretext that it had always been a part of China.

According to the Dalai Lama, he only wants further autonomy for Tibet within China if there is a guarantee that its religion, language, and culture will be preserved.

Tibetans were angered by China's acquisition of their territory because they saw it as an occupation by a foreign power. China violently put down an uprising in Tibet against Chinese control in 1959.

Despite Chinese persecution, Tibetans have fought and gave up their lives for independence for many years, UCA News reported. (ANI)