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PM Modi wishes Dalai Lama on his 86th birthday
The public messaging is being seen in some quarters as a signal to China amid the dragging standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter on Tuesday to wish the Dalai Lama on his 86th birthday, with the public messaging being seen in some quarters as a signal to China amid the dragging standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“Spoke on phone to His Holiness the @DalaiLama to convey greetings on his 86th birthday. We wish him a long and healthy life,” Modi tweeted. The Dalai Lama’s office confirmed the phone call but both sides didn’t offer details of the conversation.
Several Union ministers, including Hardeep Singh Puri, Nitin Gadkari, and chief ministers, including Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu, tweeted birthday greetings to the Tibetan spiritual leader who lives in Dharamshala.
Khandu, whose state is claimed by China, said in a tweet: On the joyous occasion of His Holiness the 14th #DalaiLama’s birthday, my warmest wishes to the apostle of peace, beacon of hope & light to the world. I pray with deepest reverence for your excellent health & long life. May we all continue to be blessed by your love & affection.”
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In a video message issued to mark his birthday, the Dalai Lama acknowledged the love and genuine friendship shown towards him by many people.
“I want to express my deep appreciation [to] all of my friends who have really shown me love, respect and trust...For myself, I can assure you that for the rest of my life, I’m committed to serving humanity and working to protect the climate condition,” he said.
The Dalai Lama said that since he became a refugee and settled in India in 1959, he had “taken full advantage of India’s freedom and religious harmony”.
He added, “I want to assure you that for the rest of my life, I’ll be fully committed to this work. I fully appreciate the Indian concept of secular values, not dependent on religion, such as honesty, karuna (compassion), and ahimsa (non-violence).”
He also called on all people to make non-violence and compassion a part of their lives.
Last year, when tensions between India and China were at an all-time high following the June 15 clash in Galwan Valley that killed 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops, there was no public messaging by the top Indian leadership on the Dalai Lama’s birthday.
The standoff on the LAC, which emerged in the open in May last year, has continued for more than a year, taking bilateral ties to a fresh low. Though both sides carried out a limited withdrawal of troops and armoured formations from the north and south banks of Pangong Lake in February, they have been unable to make headway in diplomatic and military talks on disengagement at other friction points.
The Chinese side usually bristles at any public acknowledgement of the Dalai Lama and his role as a Tibetan role by the Indian government, and has in the past even protested when the spiritual leader was allowed to travel to Arunachal Pradesh, a state with a sizeable Buddhist population.
However, Modi has tweeted birthday greetings to the Tibetan leader in the past, including in 2015.
India has linked the normalisation of overall ties with Chinas to the restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas along the LAC. External affairs minister S Jaishankar has repeated said the mobilisation of Chinese troops on the LAC had violated several agreements between the two sides and Beijing’s actions had seriously disturbed the overall relationship.
