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NEW DELHI : The Dalai Lama returned to India on Saturday, a day after China said it would meet one of his envoys to discuss the Tibetan issue.
The Tibetan spiritual leader arrived in New Delhi from a trip to the United States and was expected to fly to the hill station of Dharamshala, where his exiled leaders are based, later in the day.
"He is back in New Delhi," an official of his office said, although they declined to give details of the 72-year-old's itinerary. The spiritual icon has been based in Dharamshala since fleeing Tibet following a failed uprising there against Beijing in 1959.
The Dalai Lama's return came after China's official Xinhua news agency said on Friday that government officials would meet "in coming days" with one of his representatives.
The announcement drew praise from the United States and around the world amid hope it could lead to a solution to the recent Tibetan unrest.
But on Saturday, China's media kept up its attacks on the Dalai Lama with the state press accusing him of destabilising the Himalayan region.
Earlier this week in the US, the Dalai Lama held talks with US special envoy on Tibet Paula Dobriansky in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Dobriansky said after the meeting on Monday that the administration of US President George W. Bush was a "steadfast supporter of the need for dialogue" between the Dalai Lama and Chinese leaders.
She said Bush had expressed concern and "has urged restraint" in the region.
The meeting with Dobriansky was criticised by China, which suggested that Washington was meddling in its internal affairs.
Protests against Chinese rule rocked Tibet last month, with exiled Tibetan leaders saying more than 150 people had died in a subsequent government crackdown. Meanwhile, Beijing says Tibetan protesters killed 18 civilians and two policemen.
- AFP/vm
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