PM Modi to Inaugurate Science Congress, Dalai Lama to Skip it

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama gives teachings to devotees at the Buddha Park in Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday. 

(Photo: AP)

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama will not attend the Indian Science Congress which opens in Manipur later this week, a conference organiser said on Monday, 12 March.

The Nobel Laureate's decision not to attend the congress assumes significance in view of the cancellation of a recent event here where the Dalai Lama was expected to be present.

The event, which was slated to have been held at Rajghat to commemorate the Buddhist monk's 60th year in exile in India, was later moved to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, and will now be held at the end of the month.

The Indian Science Congress is an annual science event inaugurated by the prime minister.

The general president of the Indian Science Congress Association (INSA), Achyuta Samanta, said the Tibetan leader had been invited to the conference, but said he would not be able to attend it.

"We were also told that he had visited Manipur two months ago," Samanta said.

The Indian Science Congress website, however, still lists the Dalai Lama as one of the chief guests among other Nobel laureates expected to be present.

The development also comes in the backdrop of a media report about an Indian government directive to senior functionaries at the Centre and in the states to skip events being organised by Tibetans.

Earlier this month, The Indian Express had reported that following a communication by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha had sent out a note to senior functionaries of the Central and state governments asking them to avoid events being organised by Tibetans.

Following the report, the Ministry of External Affairs had said the Dalai Lama was a revered religious leader and deeply respected by the people of India, and added that there was no change in that position.

"Government of India's position on His Holiness the Dalai Lama is clear and consistent. He is a revered religious leader and is deeply respected by the people of India. There is no change in that position," MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said.