The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is visitng Washington. He was received Monday by the Capital Area Tibetan community and other Tibetan supporters. The Dalai Lama he will be in the capitial for three days.
During his Washington visit, the Dalai Lama is expected to meet President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary State Colin Powell and other Administration officials.
This will be the Dalai Lama's first opportunity to meet with U.S. leaders following the reestablishment of contact between his envoys and Chinese officials, after an impasse of nearly a decade.
The Dalai Lama also meets leaders of the Senate and House committees on foreign relations and gives a keynote address at a 20th anniversary event of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.
At the invitation of the Washington National Cathedral, the Dalai Lama attends an interfaith ceremony on the second anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Earlier, the Dalai Lama visited San Francisco, where he received an honorary degree from the University of San Francisco. He also dedicated a house of worship for inter-religious harmony and world peace in the mid-Western city of Bloomington, Indiana.
Before returning to India on September 24, the Dalai Lama also visits Boston and New York.