China and India spar over Dalai Lama’s succession

10 months ago

India and China are sparring over the succession of the Dalai Lama after the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader announced his reincarnation earlier this week. Ahead of his 90th birthday on 6 July, the 14th Dalai Lama said his successor would be chosen by his closest Tibetan advisers without interference from China. The Dalai Lama insists that his successor will be born in a "free" country and urges his followers to reject any candidate appointed by Beijing. The Chinese government says it has the sole authority to name his successor. “No one has the right to interfere or decide who the successor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be,” the Indian federal minister for minority affairs, Kiren Rijiju, said in a statement. "Only he or his institution has the authority to make that decision. His followers believe that deeply. It is important for disciples across the world that he decides his succession."

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