Dalai Lama in Delhi, may meet leaders

New Delhi, Mar 21 (UNI) Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived in the National Capital this evening to address a Buddhist discourse and is likely to meet national leaders in the backdrop of developmenmts in Tibet.

The spiritual leader reached New Delhi only hours after police detained 33 Tibetan protestors, five of whom had forced their way inside the Chinese embassy. He flew down to Delhi with a group of followers and aides.

His visit assumes importance after Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi called for an independent probe to clear Tibet's spiritual leader Dalai Lama's name in the violent protests in Tibet.

''An independent, outside investigation is necessary to clear the Dalai Lama's name, besides speaking out against the Chinese oppression,'' she told reporters in Dharmshala, the headquarters of Tibetan Government-in-exile after a failed uprising against the Chinese rule in 1959.

''If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against Chinese oppression, we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world,'' she said.

Launching a scathing attack against the Chinese, she said China must allow journalists and other monitors to enter Tibet and see for themselves what the situation was inside Tibet.

She said she was not surprised about the use of violence on the part of the Chinese government in Tibet following protests by Tibetan monks in Lhasa.

Describing the Dalai Lama as ''the embodiment of non-violence'', she said it was necessary to clear his name in the violent protests in Tibet once and for all.

Though nothing was officially confirmed, it is learnt that the Dalai Lama is expected to meet Indian leaders and officials.

UNI NAB/NR MSJ KN2338