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Dalai Lama’s Visit to Tibet border
BBC NEWS published: 2009/11/08 09:31:54 GMT
Thousands of people have turned out to welcome the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama as he makes a controversial visit to a monastery in Tawang in India's state of Arunachal Pradesh. The freezing temperatures in Tawang did not deter thousands of villagers taking to the streets to catch a glimpse of the Dalai Lama. Tibetan prayer flags fluttered and monks struck cymbals and played horns as the Dalai Lama headed to the Tibetan monastery, the second largest of its kind in India, to hold a prayer session. Some pilgrims had walked for as long as five days to be there. Arunachal Pradesh was the first stop during the Dalai Lama's flight from Tibet in 1959, and he said he felt close ties to the region. This is only his fifth visit in 50 years.
Beijing has accused the Dalai Lama of trying to undermine its rule in Tibet and says the visit is anti-China. He said Beijing's accusations that his visit was anti-China and damaging to India-China ties were "baseless". The Dalai Lama insists his visit is "non-political". "My visit to Tawang is non-political and aimed at promoting universal brotherhood and nothing else," the Dalai Lama said. Arunachal Pradesh's Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu said Beijing had "no right to interfere in India's internal matters".
The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 when Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising in Tibet.
