Dharamsala, September 13 – Officials from the Barack Obama administration met with the Kalon Tripa prof. Samdhong Rinpoche today at the Kashag. The US delegation accompanied by His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy Lodi Gyari is led by Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the US President Barrack Obama and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison.

María Otero, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs and Special Coordinator for Tibetan affairs designate in the US State Department, and Michael Strautmanis, Chief of Staff to the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison, are the other two members of the delegation. The officials held an hour long talk with the Tibetan prime minister behind closed doors.

They will meet tomorrow with His Holiness the Dalai Lama who arrived here today after his five-day visit to Slovakia and the Czech Republic, AFP reported citing local officials.

It is the highest-level US delegation to travel to Dharamashala since March 2008 when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met the Dalai Lama here following protests and Chinese crackdown on Tibetans last year.

The Tibetan leader, who visited the United States in May, will return to the US next month, when he is expected to meet with Obama.

The delegation visited Norbulingka institute and Tibetan Transit School yesterday and Tibetan Children’s Village school earlier today.