India is the largest democracy in the world and an important strategic partner of the United States, McCaul said.

I look forward to meeting with government officials and the American business community to learn how we can further strengthen our relationship with India, he said.

I am also honored to meet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Tibetans are a democracy-loving people who wish to practice their religion freely. This visit should highlight the bipartisan support of the U.S. Congress for Tibet's right to have a say in shaping its own future, McCaul said.

Supreme Court Justice Meeks said he looks forward to joining Speakers McCaul and Pelosi in demonstrating strong bipartisan support for U.S.-India relations.

Over the past 25 years, our relationship with India has become one of the most important between the United States and China. “I am also honored to meet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and hear his views on how the American people can support the Tibetan people's struggle for autonomy,” he said.

The US statement did not mention the dates of the visit.

However, authoritative sources in New Delhi said on Friday that the delegation would be in Dharamsala on June 18 and 19.

The visit of the influential US lawmakers to the Himalayan city comes ahead of the Dalai Lama's planned medical treatment trip to the USA.

The Tibetan government in exile is based in Dharamshala and represents over 100,000 Tibetans living in around 30 countries. The United States strongly supports the Tibetan cause and condemns any oppression or coercion of Tibetans by China.

The US Congress passed a law this month calling for a peaceful solution to the conflict over Tibet's status and government. The Resolve Tibet Act also calls on Beijing to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama.

To demonstrate Washington's support for the Tibetan cause, American politicians regularly visit Dharamsala.

Between 2002 and 2010, representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government held nine rounds of dialogue, but these did not produce any concrete results. There have been no formal talks since then.

In talks with China between 2002 and 2010, the Tibetan side advocated genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people in line with the Dalai Lama's middle-way policy. The Dalai Lama advocates a solution to the Tibetan question through dialogue.

In April, the Sikyong, or political chief of the Tibetan government in exile, Penpa Tsering, said his government had begun unofficial talks with Beijing to seek ways to resolve the Tibet issue.

The remarks were seen as a sign of willingness by both sides to resume dialogue after the formal dialogue process reached an impasse more than a decade ago amid anti-China protests in Tibet and Beijing's tough stance toward the Buddhist region.

A few days after Tsering's comments, Beijing assured that it would only negotiate with representatives of the Dalai Lama and not with the government in exile.

After a failed uprising against China in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet and came to India, where he set up the government in exile. China has in the past accused the Dalai Lama of engaging in “separatist” activities and trying to divide Tibet, and views him as a divisive figure.

However, the Tibetan spiritual leader stressed that he was not seeking independence, but rather “real autonomy for all Tibetans living in the three traditional provinces of Tibet” within the framework of the “Middle Way”.

Due to protests against China in Tibetan areas in 2008, relations between the two sides have become even more strained.