"China Has No Role In Choosing Next Dalai Lama": Arunachal Monastery Head

Gyangbung Rinpoche, Abbot of the monastery near India's border with China, said it is important to counter Beijing's policy of expansionism

China has no authority at all to get involved in choosing the next Dalai Lama, especially since the Chinese government does not believe in religion, and the succession is entirely a spiritual matter for the Tibetan people, the head of the Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh has said.

Gyangbung Rinpoche, the Abbot of the nearly 350-year-old monastery near India's border with China, also said that it is important to counter Beijing's policy of expansionism and New Delhi must maintain a strict vigil over the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with the neighbouring country.

The head of the second largest monastery in the world after the Potala Palace in Tibet's Lhasa said only the current Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people have the right to decide about the succession of the Tibetan spiritual leader and China has no role to play in the matter.

"The Chinese government does not believe in religion. How can a government that does not believe in religion decide the next Dalai Lama. The succession plan is a matter of religion and faith; it is not a political issue," he told PTI in an interview.