Dalai Lama to visit France in summer 2011

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Associated Press
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File Photo: His Holiness the Dalai Lama meeting with France President Nicolas Sarkozy at Paris

Toulouse, France-- A Tibetan Buddhist centre in southern France says the Dalai Lama plans a three-day visit to the city of Toulouse next summer. The Institut Vajra Vogini in the southern French town of Lavaur said today that the Tibetan spiritual leader will give instruction and hold a public conference at a Toulouse auditorium from August 13-15.

The Dalai Lama last visited the city in 1993 and 1982. France-China relations nose-dived in 2008 after protests by exiled Tibetans and other activists during the Olympic torch's passage through Paris and President Nicolas Sarkozy's talks with the Dalai Lama.

Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking Tibetan independence from Chinese rule. It wasn't immediately clear whether the leaders plan to meet during the Dalai Lama's visit next year.