By Abhishek Madhukar
31 MARCH 2018
In the archive image, Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama speaks
during an interactive session in Bomdila, in the northeastern state
de Arunachal Pradesh, in India, he 5 April 2017.
REUTERS/Anuwar Hazarika/File photo
DHARAMSALA, INDIA (Reuters) – The Dalai Lama called on his people to remain united as the Tibetan community gathered Saturday in a small mountain town to commemorate 60 years of political asylum in India, although only one federal minister appeared at the event.
The “Thank you” event, India” had been scheduled to take place in the Indian capital, New Delhi, but moved to Dharamsala, a small town in the north of the country where Tibetans administer a government in exile, as India tries to avoid a confrontation with China, who considers the Dalai Lama a dangerous separatist.
Officially, New Delhi says its policy towards the Dalai Lama remains the same, and the Tibetan government in exile says it moved the event to Dharamsala out of respect for India's foreign policy needs. The Minister of Culture of India was the only one present at the event.
“Today we celebrate 60 years in exile and we have confidence, and we can see how our future is shaping up.”, the Dalai Lama said at the event.
He emphasized the “strong bond between India and Tibet”, and said the two shared a “deep connection of culture and literature.”.
China took control of Tibet in 1950 in what he called a “peaceful liberation”. In March of 1959, the Dalai Lama, which then had 23 years, He fled to India along with his followers.
The then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru welcomed the monk and allowed him to set up his headquarters in Dharamsala. But ties have weakened as India tries to improve relations with China and avoid a dispute such as a military confrontation of 73 days on a stretch of their disputed border last year.
“From Nehru to Modi, “We have followed a one-China policy.”, said Ram Madhav, general secretary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. Ties between India and Tibet were “very unpolitical”, but more spiritual, religious and cultural” , He added.
Escrito por Sankalp Phartiyal. Edited in Spanish by Patricio Abusleme
