Obama, Dalai Lama To Meet At The National Prayer Breakfast; Chinese Uneasiness Expected

Obama, Dalai Lama To Meet At The National Prayer Breakfast

US President Barack Obama will take part in a public event on 5 February; the Dalai Lama is also expected to be there. Observers are seeing this as a move that will irk China. Obama will speak about the importance of religious tolerance at the annual National Prayer Breakfast. Lama, the symbol of Tibet's struggle for independence, has also been invited for the event.

There is no official word on whether the two Nobel Laureates will meet there or not, but the National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan has said that the two leaders have previously met on three occasions, their last meeting happened in February last year.  

"The President is a strong supporter of the Dalai Lama's teachings and preserving Tibet's unique religious, cultural and linguistic traditions," he said.  "As he has done in the past, the President will see many religious leaders at the event, but we don't have any specific meeting with the Dalai Lama to announce."

Dalai Lama, 79, fled to India during the 1959 Tibetan uprising, where he denounced the Chinese rule and established the nongovernmental Central Tibetan Administration. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in the year 1989 for his unwavering advocacy for the autonomy in the region.

Tibet shares borders with Nepal, India, Bhutan, and Myanmar; China deems it a region of high strategic importance.

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US Secret Service Personnel Arrive In India Ahead Of President Obama's Visit

Ahead of Barak Obama's arrival in India, 25 of the best US Secret Service agents have come to Delhi to supervise his safe stay in the country. The agents are presently staying in the The Maurya Sheraton Hotel. They have held a meeting with officials of Indian security agencies and Delhi police to discuss the security issues; the meeting was conducted in the basement of the hotel and lasted for an hour and half.    

“Ahead of the US President’s scheduled visit, an “advance security liaisoning meeting” was held in the basement of the hotel where the senior officials of intelligence agencies and officials from Security Wing of Delhi Police, Additional Commissioner of Police SBS Tyagi and Additional DCP Amit Roy were present,” a source said.

The Delhi Police officials presented their plan of action to their US counterparts and asked them to reciprocate. The agents of the US secret service are satisfied with the security road map of the Delhi Police. 

But the Indian officials could not get much success in convincing the US security folks to let the President travel in the Indian President's limousine that will take him to Rajpath. The matter is supposed to be negotiated again.  

“Interestingly, US secret agents told the Indian intelligence agencies that the US President will be accompanied by his chefs to ensure that his food is not spiked,” a police source informed the media.

It should be noted that when President Obama went to Myanmar last year in November to attend the East Asia Summit, six aircraft of equipment, vehicles, oil tankers, helicopters,  and 1600 US personnel were send to oversee the visit. Even the fuel used by the security cavalcade of President was brought from the US in Navy ship.  

Around 10000 paramilitary personnel will join the Delhi Police whose strength is around 80000 to make the Rajpath parade a full-proof exercise.

Barak Obama will be landing on Indian soil on 25 January.  

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