Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari or Lodi Gyari widely known as Gyari Rinpoche who has been under treatment for liver cancer in San Francisco has been reported to have passed away on early Monday in US. One of the most well known leaders in the Tibetan exile was also a former special envoy to His Holiness the Dalai Lama during various rounds of talks with China.

“Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari has passed away at 6:15 AM local time, Monday (October, 29, 2018) in San Francisco, California, United States. The former envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, also known as Gyari Rinpoche is survived by his wife Dawa Chokyi, their six children and grand children.” posted the official Facebook page of Phayul announcing the sad news among the Tibetan community and its supporters.

Lodi Gyari, was reported to be raised into a critical condition in a hospital in San Francisco, California, in the US according to news sources among the Tibetan community recently after he been receiving treatment for a cancer problem since more than a month ago. He was reportedly being treated for liver cancer. However, the condition had worsened and the former envoy to the Tibetan spiritual leader

Lodi Gyari was born in Nyarong in Eastern Tibet in 1949, and fled into exile in India in 1959 following the Chinese occupation of Tibet. He was a former Kalon of the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamshala and had led the Tibetan side of the delegation for nine rounds of dialogue with the Chinese government in attempts to resolve the Tibetan issue, between 2002 and 2010.

Gyari was one of the founders of the Tibetan Youth Congress, the largest Tibetan NGO fighting for an independent Tibet. The last post he had held was Executive Chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) in 2014, according to the report in the Tibet Sun.