Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Wednesday, slammed China saying that the Chinese communists have the power of gun which is weaker than the power of truth.

The Dalai Lama made the statement at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, the place where Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment more than two millennia ago.

With his advancing age Dalai Lama is a figure caught in a tight spot.

The question of who will succeed him has become more pressing than ever.

The 84-year old leader is currently on a two-day visit to the Buddhist holy site of Bodh Gaya.

This is the place where Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment more two thousand years ago.

From this holy site - the Dalai Lama made this declaration aimed at china.

'The power of gun vs the power of truth'

A statement in stark contrast to something he has been saying for the last few years.

Not too long ago — the Dalai Lama had said that the Tibetan issue was no longer a struggle for independence.

And surprisingly - he had also praised the Chinese communist party.

His remarks were meant to please china which is harnessing Buddhism as a soft power across Asia.

The Chinese regime is spending 3 billion dollars to revive the birthplace of Buddha - the Nepalese town of Lumbini.

But the only problem — Beijing is adamant on preventing the Dalai Lama from deciding his successor.

And Dalai Lama's statement indirectly raises pressure on India which hasn't spoken much on the issue off late.

India's policy on Tibet has bounced back several times. What we saw during the Doklam crisis may have been a result of that.

PM Modi had permitted the Dalai Lama to visit Tibetan communities in the state of Arunachal Pradesh — but these were territories claimed by China. Beijing had vociferously objected to this.&nbsp;

The people's liberation army of China has said that its ties with the Indian military are improving with strategic dialogue.

This provides an upbeat picture of the relations between the two countries.

So the flip-flop in statements clearly shows the Dalai Lama's dilemma.

The Wuhan and the recent Mamallapuram summit has helped break ice between India and China after decades.

The Dalai Lama feels he is caught in between. He feels he may be losing voice with India's growing relations with China.

Despite being the world's most famous Buddhist — &nbsp;he has kept himself out of anybody's strategic interests.

But now with the geo-political order changing — he fears that his institution could lose relevance.

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Wednesday, slammed China saying that the Chinese communists have the power of gun which is weaker than the power of truth.

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Wednesday, slammed China saying that the Chinese communists have the power of gun which is weaker than the power of truth. The Dalai Lama made the statement at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, the place where Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment more than two millennia ago. With his advancing age Dalai Lama is a figure caught in a tight spot. The question of who will succeed him has become more pressing than ever. The 84-year old leader is currently on a two-day visit to the Buddhist holy site of Bodh Gaya. This is the place where Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment more two thousand years ago. From this holy site - the Dalai Lama made this declaration aimed at china. 'The power of gun vs the power of truth' A statement in stark contrast to something he has been saying for the last few years. Not too long ago — the Dalai Lama had said that the Tibetan issue was no longer a struggle for independence. And surprisingly - he had also praised the Chinese communist party. His remarks were meant to please china which is harnessing Buddhism as a soft power across Asia. The Chinese regime is spending 3 billion dollars to revive the birthplace of Buddha - the Nepalese town of Lumbini. But the only problem — Beijing is adamant on preventing the Dalai Lama from deciding his successor. And Dalai Lama's statement indirectly raises pressure on India which hasn't spoken much on the issue off late. India's policy on Tibet has bounced back several times. What we saw during the Doklam crisis may have been a result of that. PM Modi had permitted the Dalai Lama to visit Tibetan communities in the state of Arunachal Pradesh — but these were territories claimed by China. Beijing had vociferously objected to this. The people's liberation army of China has said that its ties with the Indian military are improving with strategic dialogue. This provides an upbeat picture of the relations between the two countries. So the flip-flop in statements clearly shows the Dalai Lama's dilemma. The Wuhan and the recent Mamallapuram summit has helped break ice between India and China after decades. The Dalai Lama feels he is caught in between. He feels he may be losing voice with India's growing relations with China. Despite being the world's most famous Buddhist — he has kept himself out of anybody's strategic interests. But now with the geo-political order changing — he fears that his institution could lose relevance.

Dalai Lama: A monk in the middle of two rival nations

Taking offence to China renaming six places in Arunachal Pradesh, India today said inventing names of states of a neighbour does not make illegal occupation legal.

Reacting to the issue, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Gopal Baglay said Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.

He said &quot;renaming or inventing names of states of your neighbour do not make illegal occupation as legal&quot;.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Renaming or inventing a name does not make illegally held territory legal. Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India: MEA on China <a href="https://t.co/lWLQZr5l9q">pic.twitter.com/lWLQZr5l9q</a>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/855012331700445184">April 20, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

China yesterday had announced that it has &quot;standardised&quot; official names for six places in the Northeastern state and termed the provocative move as a &quot;legitimate action&quot;.

The Chinese move came days after Beijing lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama&#39;s visit to the frontier state.&nbsp;

(PTI)

MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said 'renaming or inventing names of states of your neighbour do not make illegal occupation as legal'

Taking offence to China renaming six places in Arunachal Pradesh, India today said inventing names of states of a neighbour does not make illegal occupation legal. Reacting to the issue, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Gopal Baglay said Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. He said "renaming or inventing names of states of your neighbour do not make illegal occupation as legal". Renaming or inventing a name does not make illegally held territory legal. Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India: MEA on China pic.twitter.com/lWLQZr5l9q — ANI (@ANI_news) April 20, 2017 × China yesterday had announced that it has "standardised" official names for six places in the Northeastern state and termed the provocative move as a "legitimate action". The Chinese move came days after Beijing lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to the frontier state. (PTI)

India objects to China renaming six places in Arunachal Pradesh

China today announced that it has &quot;standardised&quot; official names for six places in Arunachal Pradesh and termed the provocative move as &quot;legitimate&quot;, days after it lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama&#39;s visit to the frontier state.

The state media here said the move was aimed at reaffirming China&#39;s claim over Arunachal Pradesh. China claims the state as &#39;South Tibet&#39;.

&quot;China&#39;s Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on April 14 that it had standardised in Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabet the names of six places in &#39;South Tibet&#39;, which India calls &#39;Arunachal Pradesh&#39;, in accordance with the regulations of the central government,&quot; state-run Global Times reported today.

The official names of the six places using the Roman alphabet are Wo&#39;gyainling, Mila Ri, Qoidengarbo Ri, Mainquka, Bumo La and Namkapub Ri.

Standardisation of Chinese names to six places in Arunachal Pradesh is a &quot;legitimate&quot; action, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at a briefing.

The Dalai Lama&#39;s activities are against Indian government&#39;s commitment to China, he said.

Asked about the timing of the announcement, he said China is now doing a second census of names of localities and an important part of it is to standardise names in ethnic language.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, India asserts that the dispute covers Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war.

The two sides have so far held 19 rounds of Special Representatives talks to resolve the boundary dispute.

China&#39;s move comes just days after the Dalai Lama&#39;s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which was seventh since the 81-year-old spiritual leader fled from Tibet through Tawang and sought refuge in India. During the Dalai Lama&#39;s Arunachal Pradesh visit, China had warned India that it will take &quot;necessary measures&quot; to defend its territorial sovereignty and interests.

Commenting on the standardisation of the names of six places, Chinese experts said that it was a move to &quot;reaffirm the country&#39;s territorial sovereignty to the disputed region&quot;, according to the daily.

&quot;The standardisation came amid China&#39;s growing understanding and recognition of the geography in South Tibet. Naming the places is a step to reaffirm China&#39;s territorial sovereignty to South Tibet,&quot; Xiong Kunxin, a professor of ethnic studies at Beijing&#39;s Minzu University of China, was quoted as saying.

Xiong said that the legalisation of the regions&#39; names is a part of the rule of law.

&quot;These names have existed since ancient times, but had never been standardised before. Therefore, announcing the names is like a remediation,&quot; Guo Kefan, a research fellow at the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences, said.

Standardising the names from the angles of culture and geography could serve as a reference or leverage when China and India negotiate border issues in future, Guo said.

&quot;The South Tibet region is located alongside China&#39;s southwestern border and India&#39;s north-eastern border where Sino-Indian border disputes are cantered,&quot; the report said.

It claimed that India &quot;abruptly announced that it was officially designating the region as &#39;Arunachal Pradesh&#39; but the Chinese government has neither recognised India&#39;s occupation of the region, nor the legitimacy of the province&quot;.

During the Dalai Lama Arunachal Pradesh visit, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who accompanied the Tibetan spiritual leader, had asserted that that Arunachal Pradesh is &quot;an inseparable part of India&quot;.

China had lodged a diplomatic protest with India over the visit and warned that it would have a negative impact on the efforts to resolve the border dispute.

After the nine-day visit of the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu had said that India should not use the Tibetan spiritual leader to undermine China&#39;s interests.&nbsp;

(PTI)

Chinese state media said the move, days after Dalai Lama's visit to the state, was aimed at reaffirming China's claim over Arunachal Pradesh

China today announced that it has "standardised" official names for six places in Arunachal Pradesh and termed the provocative move as "legitimate", days after it lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to the frontier state. The state media here said the move was aimed at reaffirming China's claim over Arunachal Pradesh. China claims the state as 'South Tibet'. "China's Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on April 14 that it had standardised in Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabet the names of six places in 'South Tibet', which India calls 'Arunachal Pradesh', in accordance with the regulations of the central government," state-run Global Times reported today. The official names of the six places using the Roman alphabet are Wo'gyainling, Mila Ri, Qoidengarbo Ri, Mainquka, Bumo La and Namkapub Ri. Standardisation of Chinese names to six places in Arunachal Pradesh is a "legitimate" action, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at a briefing. The Dalai Lama's activities are against Indian government's commitment to China, he said. Asked about the timing of the announcement, he said China is now doing a second census of names of localities and an important part of it is to standardise names in ethnic language. The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, India asserts that the dispute covers Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war. The two sides have so far held 19 rounds of Special Representatives talks to resolve the boundary dispute. China's move comes just days after the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which was seventh since the 81-year-old spiritual leader fled from Tibet through Tawang and sought refuge in India. During the Dalai Lama's Arunachal Pradesh visit, China had warned India that it will take "necessary measures" to defend its territorial sovereignty and interests. Commenting on the standardisation of the names of six places, Chinese experts said that it was a move to "reaffirm the country's territorial sovereignty to the disputed region", according to the daily. "The standardisation came amid China's growing understanding and recognition of the geography in South Tibet. Naming the places is a step to reaffirm China's territorial sovereignty to South Tibet," Xiong Kunxin, a professor of ethnic studies at Beijing's Minzu University of China, was quoted as saying. Xiong said that the legalisation of the regions' names is a part of the rule of law. "These names have existed since ancient times, but had never been standardised before. Therefore, announcing the names is like a remediation," Guo Kefan, a research fellow at the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences, said. Standardising the names from the angles of culture and geography could serve as a reference or leverage when China and India negotiate border issues in future, Guo said. "The South Tibet region is located alongside China's southwestern border and India's north-eastern border where Sino-Indian border disputes are cantered," the report said. It claimed that India "abruptly announced that it was officially designating the region as 'Arunachal Pradesh' but the Chinese government has neither recognised India's occupation of the region, nor the legitimacy of the province". During the Dalai Lama Arunachal Pradesh visit, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who accompanied the Tibetan spiritual leader, had asserted that that Arunachal Pradesh is "an inseparable part of India". China had lodged a diplomatic protest with India over the visit and warned that it would have a negative impact on the efforts to resolve the border dispute. After the nine-day visit of the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu had said that India should not use the Tibetan spiritual leader to undermine China's interests. (PTI)

China announces 'standardised' names for six places in Arunachal Pradesh

With China continuing to raise the heat on Dalai Lama&#39;s visit to India&#39;s north-eastern frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh, India&mdash;in a veiled but stern message&mdash;today said that no &ldquo;artificial controversy&rdquo; should be created around this visit and added that &ldquo;nobody should have any problem on the visit&rdquo;. India also took this opportunity to underline that the status of Arunachal Pradesh is &ldquo;indisputable&rdquo;.

&ldquo;When Dalai Lama is in Arunachal Pradesh, he will be confined only to religious matters. He is not there to make any political statement or he is not there with any political motive. So, unnecessary issues should not be raked up due to this visit,&rdquo; Union minister of state for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who is also a Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh, said today.

India&#39;s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), too, came out with a statement citing that the Tibetan spiritual leader, as per his website, had visited Arunachal Pradesh on six earlier occasions between 1983 and 2009.

&ldquo;The Government has clearly stated on several occasions that His Holiness Dalai Lama is a revered religious leader, who is deeply respected as such by the Indian people. No additional colour should be ascribed to his religious and spiritual activities and visits to various states of India. The Government, therefore, urges that no artificial controversy should be created around his present visit to Arunachal Pradesh,&rdquo; the MEA said.

Meanwhile, Rijiju said that Dalai Lama&#39;s visit to Arunachal Pradesh was in response to the &ldquo;wishes and appeals made by thousands of devotees&rdquo; and that during this visit, the Dalai Lama &ldquo;will be addressing, giving blessings to thousands of devotees in West Kameng district, Tawang district and Itanagar&rdquo;.

&ldquo;We have heard some comments from many quarters including the Chinese government. The people of Arunachal Pradesh desire to have a very good neighbourly relation with people with China. We never intend to have any kind of problem with our neighbours. India never interfered into the internal affairs of China. We also never questioned the Chinese sovereignty and India has respectfully adhered to One China policy. So we expect that China also should not interfere in our internal matters,&rdquo; Rijiju said.

&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="videos-block">
<div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"><iframe class="embed-responsive-item" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wdkm5pL-cqM"></iframe></div>
</div>

<div class="media-description">
The Dalai Lama is on a visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims is part of Tibet (WION)
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

&nbsp;

The MoS also underlined that &ldquo;being a democratic and secular country, India cannot restrict or stop the visit or a programme of any religious leaders in our country&rdquo;.

&ldquo;The religious sentiments of every community must be given all freedom. That is why we expect that nobody should have any problem on the visit of the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh,&rdquo; he added.

Rijiju also stated that &ldquo;Arunachal Pradesh is not a disputed territory&rdquo;. &ldquo;We have certain issues with regard to delineation or the boundary on the spots on the ground along McMahon Line&nbsp;because it is not being demarcated on the ground. That is why there is a talk between the special representatives of India and China and I hope and the people of Arunachal Pradesh hope that an amicable solution can be reached in the foreseeable future,&rdquo; he added.

&ldquo;But the status of AP is indisputable. Being a full fledged state of the Union of India, Arunachal Pradesh&#39;s status cannot be questioned. The territorial integrity of Arunachal Pradesh as a part of Indian union cannot be questioned. People of Arunachal Pradesh are upset by some people showing it as disputed territory. On behalf of the people of Arunachal Pradesh, I would like to appeal to our Chinese friends not to rake up this issue because as a neighbour we intend to have&nbsp;normal relations with China.&rdquo;

Rijiju, who will be joining Dalai Lama in Arunachal Pradesh on April 5 and would accompany him for the next three days, further said that the state government had accorded Dalai Lama the status of a state guest and all the facilities for the entire arrangement of his visit are being arranged by the state govt.

He reiterated that India did not &ldquo;intend to have any kind of damage in the relationship&rdquo; with China and that it respects Chinese sovereignty and expected that China would respect India&#39;s sovereignty in return.

Dalai Lama, who is on a nine-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh, is slated to give a teaching and confer a White Tara Long Life Empowerment (drolkar tsewang) in the morning at the Buddha Park on April 5. On April 6, he will give teachings in Dirang on Geshe Langri Thangpa&#39;s Eight Verses of Training the Mind (lojong tsikgyema) &amp; Guru Yoga (lama neljor) and confer the Avalokiteshvara Permission (chenresig jenang) in the morning at Thupsung Dhargyeling Monastery. From April 8 to 10, he is scheduled to give teachings in Tawang. On the mornings of April 8 &amp; 9, the spiritual leader will give teachings on Kamalashila&#39;s The Middling States of Meditation (gomrim barpa) &amp; Gyalsey Thokme Sangpo&#39;s Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva (laklen sodunma) at Yiga Choezin. On the morning of April 10 morning, he will confer the Rinzin Dhondup Initiation at Yiga Choezin.

(WION)

India also took this opportunity to underline that the status of Arunachal Pradesh is 'indisputable'

With China continuing to raise the heat on Dalai Lama's visit to India's north-eastern frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh, India—in a veiled but stern message—today said that no “artificial controversy” should be created around this visit and added that “nobody should have any problem on the visit”. India also took this opportunity to underline that the status of Arunachal Pradesh is “indisputable”. “When Dalai Lama is in Arunachal Pradesh, he will be confined only to religious matters. He is not there to make any political statement or he is not there with any political motive. So, unnecessary issues should not be raked up due to this visit,” Union minister of state for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who is also a Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh, said today. India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), too, came out with a statement citing that the Tibetan spiritual leader, as per his website, had visited Arunachal Pradesh on six earlier occasions between 1983 and 2009. “The Government has clearly stated on several occasions that His Holiness Dalai Lama is a revered religious leader, who is deeply respected as such by the Indian people. No additional colour should be ascribed to his religious and spiritual activities and visits to various states of India. The Government, therefore, urges that no artificial controversy should be created around his present visit to Arunachal Pradesh,” the MEA said. Meanwhile, Rijiju said that Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh was in response to the “wishes and appeals made by thousands of devotees” and that during this visit, the Dalai Lama “will be addressing, giving blessings to thousands of devotees in West Kameng district, Tawang district and Itanagar”. “We have heard some comments from many quarters including the Chinese government. The people of Arunachal Pradesh desire to have a very good neighbourly relation with people with China. We never intend to have any kind of problem with our neighbours. India never interfered into the internal affairs of China. We also never questioned the Chinese sovereignty and India has respectfully adhered to One China policy. So we expect that China also should not interfere in our internal matters,” Rijiju said. The Dalai Lama is on a visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims is part of Tibet (WION) × The MoS also underlined that “being a democratic and secular country, India cannot restrict or stop the visit or a programme of any religious leaders in our country”. “The religious sentiments of every community must be given all freedom. That is why we expect that nobody should have any problem on the visit of the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh,” he added. Rijiju also stated that “Arunachal Pradesh is not a disputed territory”. “We have certain issues with regard to delineation or the boundary on the spots on the ground along McMahon Line because it is not being demarcated on the ground. That is why there is a talk between the special representatives of India and China and I hope and the people of Arunachal Pradesh hope that an amicable solution can be reached in the foreseeable future,” he added. “But the status of AP is indisputable. Being a full fledged state of the Union of India, Arunachal Pradesh's status cannot be questioned. The territorial integrity of Arunachal Pradesh as a part of Indian union cannot be questioned. People of Arunachal Pradesh are upset by some people showing it as disputed territory. On behalf of the people of Arunachal Pradesh, I would like to appeal to our Chinese friends not to rake up this issue because as a neighbour we intend to have normal relations with China.” Rijiju, who will be joining Dalai Lama in Arunachal Pradesh on April 5 and would accompany him for the next three days, further said that the state government had accorded Dalai Lama the status of a state guest and all the facilities for the entire arrangement of his visit are being arranged by the state govt. He reiterated that India did not “intend to have any kind of damage in the relationship” with China and that it respects Chinese sovereignty and expected that China would respect India's sovereignty in return. Dalai Lama, who is on a nine-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh, is slated to give a teaching and confer a White Tara Long Life Empowerment (drolkar tsewang) in the morning at the Buddha Park on April 5. On April 6, he will give teachings in Dirang on Geshe Langri Thangpa's Eight Verses of Training the Mind (lojong tsikgyema) & Guru Yoga (lama neljor) and confer the Avalokiteshvara Permission (chenresig jenang) in the morning at Thupsung Dhargyeling Monastery. From April 8 to 10, he is scheduled to give teachings in Tawang. On the mornings of April 8 & 9, the spiritual leader will give teachings on Kamalashila's The Middling States of Meditation (gomrim barpa) & Gyalsey Thokme Sangpo's Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva (laklen sodunma) at Yiga Choezin. On the morning of April 10 morning, he will confer the Rinzin Dhondup Initiation at Yiga Choezin. (WION)

Nobody should have any problem with Dalai Lama's Arunachal Pradesh visit, India says