(TibetanReview.net, Nov18’25) – The issue of reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and the continuation of the lineage is a “religious matter” and is not a “political football” which countries like China and others can play, Shivshankar Menon, India’s former national security adviser and ambassador to China, has said Nov 17 at an event in New Delhi.
Speaking at the event marking 75 years of the Dalai Lama’s religious and temporal leadership of Tibet, Menon has said. “We, in India, are privileged to have the Dalai Lama between us. His teachings, his wisdom has made a difference to our social harmony in India.”
“Over the span of 66 years we have also been able to preserve Tibetan culture due to him… The practice of Tibetan Buddhism must continue. The world is better off because of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism,” stratnewsglobal.com Nov 18 quoted Menon as saying.
He has noted that Beijing has “barely been able to move the needle of public opinion outside of China” on the Tibetan issue.
China invaded and occupied Tibet in 1950 and has claimed it alone has the right to decide on who succeeds the Dalai Lama. It is a claim that has hardly any support or credibility, the report noted.
“The kind of credibility the Tibetan cause has because of the His Holiness, because of the behaviour of the Tibetan people, I think is really incredible across the world. It’s something to be proud of and I think that’s the best answer (to China),” Menon has quipped.
Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong (executive head) of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) – representing the Tibetan Government-in-Exile – also addressed the event. He said, “Culturally we are much closer to India than any other country, including China… We have to challenge China’s narratives on the Tibetan issue.”
He made it clear that the reincarnation was for the Dalai Lama himself alone to decide, that the selection will be made by the Gaden Phodrang Trust founded by him in 2011, and, as resolve by him, he will be reborn in a “free country”.
He has accused China of “using the reincarnation issue as a political tool”.
The special panel discussion was hosted by the Delhi Ghoton Organising Committee at the India International Centre (IIC). Others who took part included foreign policy expert Dr Raja Mohan, former diplomat and author Dilip Sinha, and Professor Jampa Samten of the Central University of Tibetan Studies in Varanasi, among others.
Around 100 people attended the event, including representatives and diplomatic staff from ten countries, said the organizers on their Facebook account.