(TibetanReview.net, Dec05’22) – His Holiness the Dalai Lama has on Dec 5 morning met with a delegation of mayors of seven US cities who were on a mission to promote compassion in his Thekchen Choeling residence at McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala. The visiting City of Compassion mayors included those from Louisville (Kentucky), Cincinnati (Ohio), Tacoma (Washington), Oakland (California), San Leandro (California), San Antonio (Texas), and Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania).
Apart from the mayoral staff and others as well, the delegation also included Lonnie Ali, a philanthropist and widow of late legendary boxer Muhammad Ali whom the Dalai Lama had met previously.
The visit was a particularly poignant moment for Cincinnati’s mayor Mr Aftab Karma Pureval, the first person of Tibetan heritage to hold a prominent elective office in the US. His mother is Tibetan while his father is a Punjabi-Indian.
Pureval had earlier said he would invite the exile Tibetan leader to his city during the visit.
The mayor assured doing his best to advocate the preservation of Tibetan culture in the United States during his meeting with the Dalai Lama, said the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) on its Tibet.net website Dec 5.
During his short visit, Pureval has visited the Tibetan Parliament in Exile where he was briefed by the Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel and Deputy Speaker Mrs Dolma Tsering Teykhang.
He was also stated to have met with the executive head of the CTA, Sikyong Penpa Tsering, and his cabinet colleagues.
