WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama will not meet the Dalai Lama during his five-day trip to the US capital that began on Monday.

Obama instead intends to wait until after his November summit with President Hu Jintao before meeting the Dalai Lama, possibly sometime in December, US officials said.

This will be the first time in 18 years the Dalai Lama would have visited Washington without seeing a US president.