Indian Modik greets Dalai Lama on strange birthday phone call | Dalai Lama News

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has informed the world that he has played the spiritual leader of the Tibetan Dalai Lama wishing him a happy 86th birthday, ruling out a possible rejection of China.

Beijing considers the Dalai Lama, who has been in exile in northern India for more than six decades, a dangerous or separatist “divider” and has frowned at his commitment to him.

Indian leaders have generally been vigilant with public caution so as not to upset Beijing, but as India’s relations with China have diminished, Modik said in a tweet that he has personally conveyed his best wishes.

“He spoke to Holiness @ DalaiLama on the phone to say goodbye to his 86th birthday. We wish him a long and healthy life,” Modik said.

He spoke to Holiness on the phone @DalaiLama to send his greetings on his 86th birthday. We wish him a long and healthy life.

– Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 6, 2021

Several Indian state leaders later greeted the Dalai Lama, saying that his values, teachings and way of life are the inspiration of mankind.

The Dalai Lama thanked his supporters and thanked India for living there since he fled his hometown in 1959.

“I want to express my gratitude to all the friends who have shown me love, respect and trust,” the Dalai Lama said in a video message.

He reaffirmed his mission to serve humanity and called on his supporters to be compassionate.

“Since I became a refugee and now settled in India, I have taken advantage of India’s freedom and religious harmony,” he said.

He added that he has great respect for secular values ​​in India such as “honesty, karuna (compassion) and ahimsa (non-violence)”.

Chinese troops took Tibet in 1950 in what Beijing calls a “peaceful liberation,” and the Dalai Lama fled into exile and made the capital of Dharamshala Hill its headquarters in 1959 after a pure uprising against Chinese rule.

On Tuesday, a small celebration attended by mostly government officials was held in the Central Administration of Tibet. On a projected screen, a video message of the Dalai Lama was played, followed by a cultural screening of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts.

Usually, the birthday of the spiritual leader is a pretty elaborate thing in the village, open to the people who would go to the Tsuglagkhang temple where the performances take place. Sometimes the chief also made an appearance.

This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the celebrations have been silenced and the doors have been closed. But a banner indicating his birthday hung in the town square and Tibetan monks distributed sweets and juice to pedestrians outside the closed temple.

“It shows that a lot of people really love me. And a lot of people really love my smile, ”the Dalai Lama said with a smile at the beginning of the video.“ Despite my old age, my face is pretty pretty, ”she said with a laugh.

New Delhi recognizes Tibet as an autonomous region of China, but has several territorial disputes with Beijing elsewhere, 3,500 km (2,173 miles) along the Himalayan border.

Relations deteriorated in June last year, after the worst fighting in decades, when Chinese troops attacked an Indian border patrol with rocks and sticks, 20. China later said it lost four soldiers in the incident.

Tens of thousands of soldiers are very close at various points in the western Himalayas, on the border that runs through Ladakh in India, a region sometimes called Little Tibet because of Tibetan culture and major Buddhist religions.

In 2019, while Modi Xi Jinping was under arrest along with Chinese President, his government asked Tibetans in India not to hold rallies on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the uprising.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen wished the Dalai Lama a happy birthday, and tweeted, “Thank you for teaching us the importance of gathering to help each other through this pandemic.”