Union Ministers to Attend Dalai Lama’s 90th Birthday Amid Renewed Tensions Over Succession

 DHARAMSHALA — Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju and Rajiv Ranjan Singh, popularly known as Lalan Singh, are slated to attend the 90th birthday celebrations of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamshala this week. Their participation comes amid renewed global attention on the sensitive and deeply contested issue of the Tibetan spiritual leader’s succession.

While the Dalai Lama’s birthday falls on July 6 according to the Gregorian calendar, celebrations commenced on June 30 in line with the Tibetan lunar calendar. The milestone is being marked with a series of religious rituals and cultural events across the Tibetan exile community.

“This is not a political event—it’s a matter of spiritual faith,” Minister Rijiju stated ahead of his visit. “No one has the authority to decide the Dalai Lama’s successor, except His Holiness himself or the institution he represents. His followers around the world believe in that deeply. It is essential that he determines the path of his own succession.”

The presence of Lalan Singh—who represents Bihar, home to the historic Buddhist centre of Nalanda—is viewed by observers as a deliberate acknowledgment of India’s cultural and religious ties to Buddhism, as well as a signal of the government's awareness of the broader sensitivities surrounding the issue.

According to sources within the Indian government, the Centre is carefully navigating the complexities associated with the Dalai Lama’s succession, particularly in the context of growing Chinese assertiveness. Beijing has consistently sought to project itself as the ultimate authority in appointing the next spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism.

Earlier this week, the Dalai Lama reaffirmed that the Gaden Phodrang Trust, a non-profit established by his office in 2015, remains the only legitimate authority to oversee the process of identifying his reincarnation. The declaration is being widely interpreted as a direct repudiation of China’s attempts to control the succession narrative.

In response, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs doubled down, insisting once again that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama must be approved by Beijing. Spokesperson Mao Ning described Tibetan Buddhism as a faith with “Chinese characteristics” and said any succession must follow historical customs, including selection by the use of the so-called “golden urn” system.

“Tibetan Buddhism was born in China and is a religion with Chinese characteristics,” Mao said at a routine press briefing, reinforcing Beijing’s long-standing stance on the matter.

The question of succession has increasingly emerged as a key geopolitical flashpoint. China’s efforts to install a Beijing-approved Dalai Lama echo the controversial episode of the Panchen Lama—the second-highest spiritual figure in Tibetan Buddhism. In 1995, shortly after the Dalai Lama identified a six-year-old boy as the 11th Panchen Lama, the child was taken into Chinese custody and has remained missing ever since. Beijing subsequently appointed its own Panchen Lama, a figure broadly rejected by the Tibetan exile community and international human rights organisations.

Traditionally, the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas have played a reciprocal role in recognizing each other’s reincarnations, forming the spiritual foundation of continuity within Tibetan Buddhism. The fear among Tibetan leaders and global advocates is that China's political intervention in this process could permanently erode that sacred tradition.

As Dharamshala prepares to honour the 14th Dalai Lama’s nine decades of spiritual leadership, the deeper question remains: who will guide Tibetan Buddhism into its next era—and under whose authority? The coming years will likely determine not only the identity of the 15th Dalai Lama but also whether the spiritual lineage continues with its integrity intact or becomes entangled in the geopolitical struggle for influence over Tibet’s future.