A group of US lawmakers who met with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in India on Wednesday said they would not allow China to influence the choice of his successor, a comment likely to anger Beijing, which has labelled him a separatist.

They also signaled that Washington would put pressure on Beijing to resume talks with Tibetan leaders, which have been stalled since 2010, to resolve the Tibet issue with a law that President Joe Biden is expected to sign soon.

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The seven-member bipartisan group, led by Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas who also chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, met the Nobel Peace Prize winner at his monastery in the northern city of Dharamsala.

“I still hope that the Dalai Lama and his people will one day return to Tibet in peace,” McCaul said at a public reception after the meeting.

Beijing has even tried to interfere in the election of the Dalai Lama's successor, he said, but added: “We will not allow that.”

The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet. The 88-year-old suffered from health problems for years and is scheduled to fly to the USA this week for medical treatment.

The question of his successor was a controversial and much-discussed topic.

Beijing declared that the tradition must be continued and that the officially atheist communist leaders, as heirs to the Chinese emperors, had the right to approve the successor.

According to Tibetan tradition, the Dalai Lama will be reborn after his death. The current head of the religion has stated that his successor could be found in India.

The dispute shows how much power and influence is associated with this role and that Beijing is fighting with its rivals for control over it, analysts say.

The US group, which includes former Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, received a warm welcome from schoolchildren and Buddhist monks and nuns upon their arrival on Tuesday.

Pelosi said Congress's approval of the bill, titled “Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act,” or “Resolve Tibet Act,” sends a message to China that Washington is clear in its stance on the Tibet issue.

“This bill tells the Chinese government: things have changed now, get ready for this,” Pelosi said to cheers from hundreds of Tibetans at the event on Wednesday.

Beijing, which calls the Dalai Lama a dangerous “divisive figure” or separatist, expressed deep concern about the lawmakers' visit to Dharamsala and the draft law.

She called on parliamentarians not to contact the so-called “Dalai clique” and on Biden not to sign the law.

Chinese officials are annoyed by any interactions of the Dalai Lama with representatives of other countries, although he has met with US

Officials, including presidents, on previous visits to the USA.

However, Biden has not met the Dalai Lama since taking office in 2021 and it is not clear whether the Tibetan leader will have any engagements during his visit this month.