(TibetanReview.net, Jun20’23) – As in past numerous years, and the second time after the late 2019-2022 global Coronavirus pandemic, the Dalai Lama is to spend around a month in India’s Union Territory of Ladakh just days after his 88th birthday on Jul 6.
He will arrive in Ladakh’s capital Leh on Jul 10, take a rest, give religious teachings, and will be offered a long-life prayer ceremony, reported the indianexpress.com Jun 20, citing his co-host the Ladakh Buddhist Association.
Following four-five days of rest, followed by visits to the Chokhang Vihara monastery and Lamdon Model Senior Secondary School in the second week of July, the Dalai Lama will give three days of teachings on the Shewatsel Teaching Ground in Choglamsar at the request of Ladakh Buddhist Association and the Ladakh Gonpa Association.
He will be staying at Choglamsar village on the banks of Indus river till Aug 25, the report said.
“It is always an honour to have His Holiness visit here. The Ladakh Buddhist Association has invited him to come here again, this year,” Stanzin Konchok, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council councillor from Chushul, eastern Ladakh, has said.
The Dalai Lama’s visit takes place as China continues to remain in occupation of parts of eastern Ladakh, refusing to withdraw despite many rounds of military and diplomatic-level meetings between the two countries.
While disengagement has taken place in other parts of Ladakh border after many rounds of talks after the Jun 15-16, 2022 night Galwan Valley clash, China is seen as trying to redraw the Line of Actual Control between the two sides in eastern Ladakh by demanding the creation of a buffer zone encompassing a wide swathe of Indian territory.