Modi sends birthday wishes to Tibet’s Dalai Lama amid strained India-China ties

The 86-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader, who has been living in exile in northern India for some six decades, is regarded as a separatist by China

Observers said Modi’s engagement with the Dalai Lama signalled a shift in New Delhi’s adherence to Beijing’s ‘One China’ policy and would be welcomed by Tibetans in India

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Exiled Tibetan government officials watch a video message from the 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India, on July 6, 2021. Photo: AP

Published: 8:27pm, 6 Jul 2021Updated: 10:59pm, 6 Jul 2021

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday openly sent his well wishes to the Dalai Lama on his 86th birthday, in a move observers said could have political ramifications amid New Delhi’s strained ties with Beijing.

“Spoke on phone to His Holiness the @DalaiLama to convey greetings on his 86th birthday. We wish him a long and healthy life,” tweeted Modi, in the first public exchange with the Tibetan spiritual leader since 2015, when he was on the receiving end of birthday greetings.

China regards the 14th Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile in northern India for more than six decades, as a dangerous “splittist”, or separatist, and frowns on any engagement with him.

Indian leaders have generally been circumspect about public contact with the spiritual leader to avoid upsetting Beijing.

A planned meeting between the Dalai Lama and Amit Shah, the former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party ruling party, was called off six years ago over concerns over the impact it would have on India-China ties.

Indian media reports said the two had spoken on the Dalai Lama’s birthday in 2019, but neither side has publicly acknowledged this interaction.

Chinese troops seized Tibet in 1950 in what Beijing calls a “peaceful liberation”, and the Dalai Lama fled into exile in 1959, following a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He has since made the hillside town of Dharamshala his headquarters.