Dharamsala : Two Nobel laureates and long-time friends — Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai lama and South African anti-apartheid icon archbishop Desmond Tutu – will come face to face in this north Indian hill station Saturday.
An official of the Dalai Lama’s office said that a public ceremony welcoming Tutu will be held Friday morning.
In October, the globe-trotter monk had called off his South Africa trip as it was “inconvenient” for the government there to grant him a visa as it had close ties with China.
He was invited by Tutu on the latter’s 80th birthday.
The Nobel laureates then came face-to-face through a video link on the day of celebrations.
The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India since he fled Tibet during a failed uprising in 1959. He favours “greater autonomy” for Tibetans rather than complete independence.
Chinese leaders have, however, called him a separatist who wants Tibet to secede from China.
IANS
