LONDON - Barack Obama’s move to defer a meeting with Dalai Lama is being criticized as a US “retreat” on human rights issues, with the President being accused of bowing to Chinese pressure and snubbing the spiritual leader.

Dalai Lama arrived in Washington on his first visit since Obama assumed Presidency, but for the first time since 1991 he will not be received at the White House as the US President prepares for a Sino-US summit in Beijing next month. The Tibetan spiritual leader will eventually meet Obama on his return from Beijing.