Dalai Lama talks peace as 30,000 attend meeting in eastern India

Nov 9, 2009, 11:32 GMT

   New Delhi - The Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Monday called for peace among all communities as he addressed over 30,000 devotees in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China considers a disputed region.

   'Compassion and peace are the two words that should be remembered by all,' the Dalai Lama was quoted as saying by IANS news agency at the opening day of the three-day religious discourse at the monastery town of Tawang.

   The Tibetan spiritual leader's week-long visit to Arunachal Pradesh comes against the backdrop of Chinese protests as it considers Arunachal to be a disputed region and accuses the Dalai Lama of encouraging separatism in Tibet.

   The Dalai Lama had said his visit to Tawang, which is revered by Tibetan Buddhists as the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama, was non-political.

   However, during two brief interactions with reporters on his arrival at Tawang Sunday, the Tibetan leader hit out at China.

   The Dalai Lama said Chinese opposition to his visit to Arunachal Pradesh was 'totally baseless' and said Beijing needlessly accused him of encouraging a 'separatist movement' in Tibet.

   A day after his comments, an Arunachal Pradesh government official made an informal request to reporters covering the visit not to ask the leader any questions, IANS reported.

   Foreign journalists had already been restricted, with the government refusing to give them special permits required to visit India's border areas.

   The Indian government had earlier said the Dalai Lama, who has been living in exile in India since 1959, was an honoured guest and free to travel anywhere in the country as long as he did not indulge in politics.

   On the eve of his visit, an aide had said the Dalai Lama's trip was for purely religious purposes and that he would not be interacting with the media.

   'Maybe the Indian government was caught in a tricky situation following the Dalai Lama's statements on Sunday,' a journalist covering the events said requesting anonymity.

   India and China fought a border war in 1962, with Chinese soldiers advancing into Arunachal Pradesh and inflicting heavy casualties on Indian troops.

   China does not recognize the 1914 McMahon Line agreed between India's then British government and the then Tibetan rulers and claims 90,000 square kilometres of territory that include nearly all of Arunachal Pradesh.

   Bordering China's Tibetan Autonomous Region, Arunachal Pradesh is heavily influenced by Tibetan Buddhism.

   Thousands of followers, including monks and some foreign devotees, sat under an open sky to listen to the Dalai Lama's preachings at grounds near the Tawang monastery.

   'The congregation was huge and it should be around 30,000 to 35,000 people,' TG Rinpoche, a monk from Tawang said.

The Dalai Lama is expected to visit nearby towns of Bomdilla and Dirang and Arunachal capital Itanagar on Thursday and Friday before returning to his headquarters at the northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala on Sunday.