NEW DELHI/BEIJING, July 4:
India on Friday said it does not take any position on matters concerning faith and religion, two days after the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, unveiled a plan for choosing his successor that has been rejected by China.
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Ahead of his 90th birthday on Sunday, the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso had on Wednesday affirmed that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue and that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust will have the sole authority to recognise his future “reincarnation”, declaring no one else can “interfere” in his succession plan. The Gaden Phodrang Trust was founded by the current Dalai Lama in 2015 to oversee matters related to the 600-year-old institution of the Dalai Lama.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the Indian Government has always upheld freedom of religion for all in the country and will continue to do so.
“We have seen reports relating to the statement made by His Holiness the Dalai Lama about the continuation of the Dalai Lama institution,” he said.
“The Government of India does not take any position or speak on matters concerning beliefs and practices of faith and religion,” Jaiswal added.
Jaiswal was responding to media queries on the statement by the Dalai Lama that also ended speculation on whether the Tibetan spiritual leader will have a successor or not after his death. The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since 1959.
Earlier in the day, China urged India to act cautiously on Tibet-related issues to avoid its impact on the improvement of bilateral relations. Beijing was responding to Union Minister Kiren Rijiju’s assertion on Thursday that the decision on the Dalai Lama’s incarnation would be taken by the established institution and the leader of the Tibetan Buddhists himself and no one else.
Rijiju reiterated on Friday that all the devotees and followers of the Dalai Lama want the Tibetan spiritual leader to decide on his successor.
Rijiju, however, clarified he was not making the remarks on behalf of the Indian government and neither was he commenting on a statement made by China on Wednesday.
Rejecting the Nobel Peace laureate’s succession plan, China insisted that any future heir must receive its seal of approval, adding a new chapter to Tibetan Buddhism’s decades-long struggle with the Chinese ruling Communist Party.
Asked by reporters in Delhi about China’s statement on the issue, Rijiju said, “I do not want to react to China’s statement. I speak as a devotee, I have faith in the Dalai Lama, those who follow the Dalai Lama wish that he decides his successor.”
“There is no need for any confusion on the Dalai Lama issue. All the people across the world who believe in Buddhism and follow the Dalai Lama want him to decide (on his succession). There is no need for me or the government to say anything. Who would be the next Dalai Lama, it will be decided by him,” Rijiju said. (PTI)
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