President Obama will receive the Dalai Lama on Thursday in the Map Room of the White House instead of the Oval Office, not one-on-one but in a group, and then will leave town without a joint appearance before television cameras.
Pointedly employing no protocol that implies head-of-state status for the Tibetan leader-in-exile, the White House is also being explicit about its invitation: Obama meets the Dalai Lama as an “internationally respected religious leader and spokesman for Tibetan rights.” LAT