The Dalai Lama on Tuesday showered praise on revolutionary Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung, but lashed out at subsequent governments in Beijing for allegedly subjugating Tibetans.
Dressed in his Assam Rifles uniform, 76-year-old Das, said that he escorted the Dalai Lama as his armed guard in 1959.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper became the first Canadian premier to hold formal talks with the Dalai Lama when he met the Tibetan spiritual leader in his office, ignoring China's warning that it could affect Sino-Canadian relations.
India has been taking an "over-cautious" view on Tibet, the Dalai Lama today said while seeking New Delhi's help to resolve the vexed issue.
Braving the winter chill, thousands of Tibetans and locals lined up along the roads leading to the Tawang monastery on Sunday and gave a rousing reception to the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who arrived in town on a four-day visit.
After getting a royal welcome in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang, the Dalai Lama took on China, saying it is usual for the Chinese to oppose his visits everywhere.
"We have received information that after the Olympics 1 million Chinese are going to settle in the autonomous region of Tibet," the Dalai Lama said in an interview published in the Guardian on Saturday. He said: "There is every danger of Tibet becoming a truly Han Chinese land and Tibetans becoming an insignificant minority. Then the very basis of the idea of autonomy becomes meaningless."
"India despite problems, has had religious harmony there for 2,000 years," he said.
"In terms of our views on conversations with the Chinese and representatives of the Dalai Lama, we've been calling for that for a long time. We certainly support the statements, as the president said, that the Chinese government has said that they're willing to have this meeting take place," State Department's Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said at a briefing.
The Chinese reaction came after Zeya met with the Dalai Lama during her India visit, according to Central Tibetan administration, a non-profit political organisation, which works for the Tibetan government in exile.
The Dalai Lama has revealed he fears that Chinese agents have trained Tibetan women for a mission to kill him.
Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who underwent a surgery for gall-bladder stone removal at a private hospital here, was discharged on Thursday morning.
Not wanting to annoy China, Japanese Prime Minister Yokio Hatoyama has politely refused to meet with the visiting Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama citing his "tight" schedule.
"We accept India as a land of Buddha," he said, adding that he had no regret for not getting an opportunity to return to Tibet.
China on Wednesday warned that it will take "necessary measures" to defend its territorial sovereignty and interests after India "obstinately" allowed the Dalai Lama to visit the "disputed" parts of Arunachal Pradesh causing "serious damage" to the bilateral ties.
The clarification comes after some news media reported that the centre had allegedly asked officials to skip Dalai Lama events, in a bid to mend fences with Beijing.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Wednesday attended the four-day congregation of Buddhist monks and scholars that triggered a diplomatic row between India and China and led to the postponement of border talks, but refused to make any political comments.
Addressing the 'Message Proclamation of the 80th annual pilgrimage of the Sree Narayana Mutt' at Sivagiri in Varkala in Kerala, the Dalai Lama said peace would not come just by resolutions passed by the United Nations but through compassion and understanding of the views and concerns of other individuals.
The Dalai Lama during an interview to prominent comedian John Oliver said that Chinese hardliners have parts of their brains missing.
Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Monday said corruption is a kind of violence and yoga guru Ramdev's movement is helpful in reminding people and leaders of the country that something should be done to weed it out.
Sidestepping Chinese opposition, United States President Barack Obama will meet the Dalai Lama at the White House on Wednesday, a move likely to infuriate China which considers the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader as a separatist.
This is a major policy shift. Since 1959, when the Dalai Lama escaped to political asylum in India, the Communist Party has insisted that the Tibetans are a happy lot. The communist apparatchiks have passed off growing public protests, like the 40 self-immolations by Tibetans in the last four years, as the work of a few malcontents, instigated from "foreign countries" by the "Dalai Clique".
China has opposed the planned visit of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh and voiced 'strong concern' over the November trip. "China expresses strong concern about this information. The visit further reveals the Dalai clique's anti-China and separatist essence," the Washington Post reported. "China's stance on the so-called Arunachal Pradesh is consistent. We firmly oppose Dalai visiting the so-called Arunachal Pradesh," said a spokeswoman.
He told the Andrew Marr Show on BBC: "He (Chairman Mao) appears to me as a father and he himself considered me as a son. (We had) very good relations. The only problem was that on many occasions, when official dinners were held, Chairman Mao always used to bring me to his side".
Kasur Lodi Gyari, the special envoy of the Dalai Lama, along with four other members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile's task force, visited China from January 26 to 31 to hold the ninth round of discussions with representatives of the Chinese leadership.The Dalai Lama's representatives handed over a note about the Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for All Tibetans containing seven points that addressed the fundamental issues raised by the Chinese leadership.
On the last day of his week-long stay in Arunachal Pradesh, Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama underlined the need for spiritual development for peaceful co-existence of different groups of people for establishing a developed and prosperous state.
Even as United States President Barack Obama refused to meet the Dalai Lama fearing diplomatic backlash from China, the exiled Tibetan leader was honoured with a human rights award at the Capitol Hill on Tuesday. The spiritual leader received a human rights award from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and met with powerful lawmakers on a visit to Washington overshadowed by Obama's decision to delay a meeting with him.
'There was considerable disappointment in the Dalai Lama's entourage when it turned out that the two officials had specially flown to Dharamshala to request the Dalai Lama not to visit Washington, DC before Obama's first visit to China scheduled for November.'
The Tibetan leader recently completed 50 years in exile in India and took time off from his busy schedule in New York City to thank his host country by connecting with Indians living in the US.
The Dalai Lama on Tuesday said he did not want separation from China but religious and environment freedom for his people as Beijing today demanded that US "undo the damage" done by a meeting between President Barack Obama and the Tibetan spiritual leader.
'In view of the requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks, the relevant department of the central government will have contact and consultation with Dalai's private representative in the coming days,' Xinhua news agency said quoting an unnamed official.
India reaction to China protests over the Dalai Lama's visit to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh is one of studied ambivalence, writes B Raman
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu has asserted that the proposed visit of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to the state, to inaugurate a hospital at Tawang, would not affect the relationship between India and China. The Chief Minister categorically said that the Centre never failed to assert its position, which was demonstrated by the recent visit of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister A K Antony to the Himalayan state.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama expressed his pleasure at being introduced as the "son of India" saying he took pride in this status.
To make a truly significant impact in the world, every Indian should shoulder more responsibility to build a healthy India, said the Dalai Lama on Saturday. "Every individual Indian should think about how to build a healthy India to make an impact in the world," said the Dalai Lama. He asserted that India can create a significant impact in the world because of its size and history.
After his arrival by a helicopter from Guwahati, the 74-year-old Dalai Lama, accompanied by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Kandu, was welcomed by cheering Tibetans as he drove along the 10-km stretch from the helipad to the 400-year-old Tawang monastery.
Gordon Brown will, instead, meet the Dalai Lama in Lambeth Palace, home of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This will enable the prime minister to claim to the Chinese that he is receiving the exiled leader in spiritual rather than political capacity
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