Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama says he will miss his “dear friend” Nelson Mandela, “a man of courage, principle, and unquestionable integrity.”

A statement on his website said that the spiritual leader would "miss a dear friend, who he had hoped to meet again and for whom he had great admiration and respect."

“The best tribute we can pay to him is to do whatever we can to contribute to honoring the oneness of humanity and working for peace and reconciliation as he did," the statement said.

Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, four years after the Dalai Lama.

The two last met in 2004 in Johannesburg. In 2011, the Dalai Lama was denied a visa for South Africa.

World leaders have been paying tribute to the anti-apartheid icon following his death on December 5 in Johannesburg.

Mandela served as president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. He left office in 1999 after serving one term as president.

After years of resistance against apartheid rule in South Africa, Mandela was arrested in 1962. He was sentenced to life in prison, where he served more than 27 years. He spent many of those years on Robben Island.

Following his release from prison on February 11, 1990, Mandela led the African National Congress party in the negotiations that led to multi-racial democracy in 1994.

As president, he frequently gave priority to reconciliation.