DHARAMSHALA, February 9: Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu will be visiting the exile Tibetan headquarters of Dharamshala tomorrow to meet his old friend His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Archbishop Tutu is currently on a five day visit to India as part of The Elders, a group of independent global leaders brought together by former South African president Nelson Mandela in 2007 to create awareness on an initiative “Girls Not Brides” a global partnership to end child marriage.
The South African anti-apartheid icon is expected to arrive tomorrow morning and will take part in a public ceremony along with the Dalai Lama. Live webcast of the meet will be made available on dalailama.com.
The two internationally renowned peace figures were scheduled to meet October last in South Africa but the Dalai Lama had to call off his trip at the eleventh hour after repeated visa delays.
The South African government’s visa tarrying had sparked an outrage with citizens and leaders blasting their government for buckling under China’s pressure.
Archbishop Tutu who had invited fellow Nobel Peace laureate to attend his 80th birthday celebrations in Cape Town criticised his government for kowtowing to Chinese pressure.
“Our government is worse than the apartheid government because at least you would expect it with the apartheid government,” Archbishop Tutu had told reporters.
Article re-edited on February 9, 2012 at 16:28 IST
