The succession of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is a thorn in China-India relations, the Chinese embassy in New Delhi said on Sunday, while India’s Foreign Minister is preparing to visit China for the first time since mortal border clashes in 2020.
Before this month’s celebrations for his 90th birthday attended by Senior Indian ministers, the head of Tibetan Buddhists irritated China again by saying that he had no role in his succession. Tibetans believe that the soul of any superior Buddhist monk is reincarnated after his death, but China says that the succession of Dalai Lama will also have to be approved by their leaders.
The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese domain in Tibet, and Indian foreign relations experts say that their presence gives New Delhi influence against China.
Yu Jing, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy, said in X that some people from strategic and academic communities in India had made “inappropriate comments” about the reincarnation of Dalai Lama.
Yu did not appoint anyone but in recent days, Indian strategic affairs analysts and a government minister supported the comments of Dalai Lama about his succession.
“As professionals in foreign matters, they must be totally aware of the sensitivity of the problems related to Xizang,” said Yu, using the Chinese name for Tibet.
“The reincarnation and succession of Dalai Lama is inherently an internal matter of China,” he said.
“[The] The problem related to Xizang is a thorn in China-India relations and has become a burden to India. Playing the ‘Xizang’ card will definitely end up shooting on the foot. “
The Minister of Parliamentary and Minority Affairs of India, Kiren Rijiju, who sat next to Dalai Lama during the birthday festivities a week ago, has said that, as a Buddhist in exercise, he only believes that the spiritual guru and his office have the authority to decide on their reincarnation.
The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on July 4, two days before the birthday of Dalai Lama, that New Delhi does not take any position or talk about issues related to beliefs and practices of faith and religion.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the India, S. Jaishankar will attend a regional security meeting under Shanghai’s cooperation organization in Tianjin in northern China on July 15 and will hold bilateral meetings on the margin.
This will be one of the highest level visits between India and China, since their relationships were put in a minced after a deadly border clash in 2020 that killed at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese.
At the end of last month, the Minister of Defense of India held conversations with his Chinese counterpart in China outside a meeting of defense ministers of the Shanghai cooperation organization.
