United States President Barack Obama met Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Wednesday even as China held that such combination will impact the bilateral ties between the two countries, reported Al Jazeera. The private meeting at White House residence reflected the "personal nature of their meeting", according to White House spokesperson Josh Earnest. This is the fourth time that Obama met the exiled leader in the past eight years of his term in the Oval office.

Though America's stand on Tibet's struggle with China for freedom remained the same, Obama thanked Dalai Lama for his condolences for the victims of the Orlando gay nightclub shooting and reiterated his support "in preserving Tibet's unique religious, cultural and linguistic traditions". Beijing had warned Washington against the meeting saying it would give a wrong message "separatist forces".