Dalai Lama Consecrates Monastry at Arunachal Pradesh
The 14th Dalai Lama is on a 9-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh after eight years.
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- The 14th Dalai Lama is on a nine-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh
- His visit to the region has rattled Beijing who accused India of causing “serious damage” to ties
- The spiritual leader addressed a gathering at Dirang and consecrated another monastery in Tawang district
Dalai Lama Consecrates Thupsung Dhargyeling Monastery
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Thursday consecrated a Buddhist monastery in Arunachal Pradesh's West Kameng district even as China said his state tour will fuel bilateral tensions.
Hundreds of people from across India and neighbouring Bhutan gathered at the Thupsung Dhargyeling Monastery at Dirang, 50 km from Tawang.
The Dalai Lama Consecrates Monastery in Tawang
The Dalai Lama consecrated a Buddhist monastery on Thursday in India’s remote northeast, amid Chinese warnings of bilateral relations with India being damaged.
Nearly 10,000 people, some of them from neighboring Bhutan, greeted the Dalai Lama at the Thubchok Gatsel Ling Monastery in Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh, an official said.
The ceremony was conducted in the presence of Governor PB Acharya, Chief Minister Pema Khandu, state Assembly Speaker TN Thongdok, Chief Secretary Shakuntala Gamlin and other dignitaries.
'Dalai Lama Not a Primary Issue in the Long Run'
The Dalai Lama is not the “primary problem” in Sino-Indian relations in the long run, a former Chinese diplomat who served in India said on Thursday, amid a row between the two countries over his visit to Arunachal Pradesh.
“In the long run, the Dalai Lama is not the primary problem in Sino-Indian relations, and it’s not a problem that cannot be solved,” Mao Siwei, who previously served as China's Consul General in Kolkata, was quoted by the state-run Global Times.
The Dalai Lama At Dirang Monastery
The Dalai Lama addressed a gathering at Thuphung Dhargeling monastery in Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh.
Tibetan spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama arrived, at Bomdila in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday to mark the beginning of his nine-day visit to the state after almost eight years.
He will address a gathering at Dirang and confer the ‘Avalokiteshvara Permission’ at Thupsung Dhargyeling Monastery on Thursday.
The leader’s trip has triggered a diplomatic row between India and China, with the latter accusing India of causing “serious damage” to ties by “obstinately” allowing the official visit, which it has also opposed in the past.
A riled China also lodged a protest with India’s Ambassador in Beijing, Vijay Gokhale.
'Will Beijing Lose to New Delhi?'
In a Chinese-run media Global Times editorial, the Dalai Lama’s visit has been called a “diplomatic move to put pressure on China”.
It said that India is “dissatisfied” after China did not cooperate with it on its membership bid to the Nuclear Suppliers Group and to blacklist Pakistani militant and Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar.
In a veiled attack on India’s “turbulent” Kashmir issues, it further said:
India Never Used Me Against China, Says Dalai Lama
Rubbishing claims by the Chinese media that he was being used by the Narendra Modi government as “diplomatic leverage” to challenge China, the Dalai Lama said that “India has never used me against China”.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu reacted to China’s remarks on Wednesday and said that it has no business telling India what to do with regard to the Dalai Lama’s movement in the country.
(With inputs from PTI and AP.)
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