REENCARNATION OR STATE-APPOINTMENT? Dalai Lama Succession Pits Giants China and India Against Each Other
China and India, the two most populous countries in the world, have a complex geopolitical relationship.
On the one hand, they are partners in the BRICS group, united to try to usher in the multi-polar world.
But at the same time, they live at each other’s throats, with problems with trade imbalances and economic competition, disputes in the fields of Cybersecurity and technology, water resource disputes, infrastructure development competition, and a bloody border dispute that dates back to 1962.
Now, the succession of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has become yet another major irritant in China-India relations.
The Chinese embassy in New Delhi alerted to this fact today (13), even as the Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar prepares to visit Beijing for the first time since the deadly border clashes of 2020.
Reuters reported:
“Ahead of celebrations this month for his 90th birthday that were attended by senior Indian ministers, the head of Tibetan Buddhists riled China again by saying it had no role in his succession. Tibetans believe the soul of any senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated after his death, but China says the Dalai Lama’s succession will also have to be approved by its leaders.
The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet, and Indian foreign relations experts say his presence gives New Delhi leverage against China. India is also home to about 70,000 Tibetans and a Tibetan government-in-exile.”
China expresses its displeasure over India hosting the Dalai Lama once again
A spokesperson also called the succession of the Dalai Lama a thorn in the Indo-China relations@eriknjoka reports pic.twitter.com/fu4Qr8cB2T
— WION (@WIONews) July 13, 2025
China complains that ‘people in strategic and academic communities in India had made improper remarks’ on the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.
“India’s foreign ministry said on July 4, two days before the Dalai Lama’s birthday, that New Delhi does not take any position or speak on matters concerning beliefs and practices of faith and religion.”
But Minister Kiren Rijiju sat next to the Dalai Lama during the his birthday festivities last week, and said that he believes ‘only the spiritual guru and his office have the authority to decide on his reincarnation’.
Read more from October 2024:
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