Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Wednesday said that he
has “no worries” about Donald Trump’s election as US president,
adding that he expects the businessman will align his future policies with
global realities.

The 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner’s remarks were his most extensive
yet regarding the election of the real estate tycoon and reality television
star who has called for putting America’s concerns first and shown little
interest in Washington’s traditional espousal of global democracy and social
justice.

Commenting at the conclusion of a four-day visit to
Mongolia, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism said he looks forward to seeing Trump
at some point following the January 20 inauguration. Such meetings
usually draw protests from Beijing, which accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking to
split Tibet from China.

The 81-year-old monk said he has always regarded the US as
the leader of the “free world” and wasn’t concerned about remarks
made by Trump during the election campaign.

Some of those comments have been cited as offensive to
Muslims, Hispanics and other US minority groups.

“I feel during the election, the candidate has more
freedom to express. Now once they (are) elected, having the responsibility,
then they have to carry their cooperation, their work, according (to)
reality,” he told reporters in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar.
“So I have no worries.”

Tenzin Dhardon Sharling, spokeswoman for the self-declared
Tibetan government-in-exile in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala, said she
was not aware of any plans for a meeting between the Dalai Lama and Trump.

She said the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan exile community have
enjoyed good relations with successive US presidents and expected that to
continue under a Trump administration.

“His holiness has always put great hope in the US as a
champion of democracy. He hopes for continued support from the new president
and his government,” she said in a telephone interview.

China had demanded Mongolia scrap his visit for the sake of
the “general picture of a sound and steady development of bilateral
ties.” Mongolia’s fragile economy is heavily dependent on China, and the
countries are in talks for a $4.2 billion Chinese loan to help pull it out
of a recession.

China has apparently delayed talks on the loan in response
to the visit by the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since fleeing Tibet in
1959. Mongolian government spokesman Otgonbayar Gombojav said on Wednesday that China
had indefinitely postponed a visit to China next Monday by Mongolian
officials to discuss the loan.