US lawmakers congratulate PM Modi on win

New Delhi, June 20

A visiting US Congressional delegation, which had met the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala earlier this week riling the Chinese, on Thursday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On their return to Delhi late on Wednesday, the delegation called on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

Beijing says ‘respect our sensitivities’

China on Thursday asked the Dalai Lama to thoroughly reflect and completely correct his political propositions for it to hold talks with him and asked the US to respect its sensitivity and importance to Tibet-related issues as Washington is set to pass a tough Tibet policy law.

Though the seven-member delegation did not touch on Tibet during its interaction with PM Modi and instead discussed bilateral issues, sources said the signals coming from their interaction with the top Indian leadership soon after the interaction with the Dalai Lama were unmistakable.

China has already reacted angrily to the seven legislators from both aisles of the US Congress visiting Dharamsala with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi comparing Chinese President Xi Jinping with Dalai Lama receiving wide coverage. Pelosi had also controversially visited Taipei in 2022. It led to retaliatory, week-long drills by the Chinese military around Taiwan Island.

An official news release said the US delegation appreciated the scale, fairness and transparency of elections and democratic processes in India and congratulated PM Modi on his election for the third consecutive term. The PM highlighted the significant role played by the consistent and bipartisan support of the US Congress in advancing India-US ties, it added.