Amidrelations between India and China worsening in the recent months and in astrategic shift, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday made a clear-cutdeparture from the policies of the successive governments of 'making distance'of sorts from the Tibetan spiritual leader by extending greetings to him on his86th birthday.
PM Narendra Modi spoke to him over the phone so as togreet him. He wished him a long and healthy life.
According to a source in Dharamshala, Narendra Modi spoketo the 14th Dalai Lama, whose real name is Tenzin Gyatso for nearly 20 minutesin the morning and His sanctity, who is right now in Dharamshala and wascontented to receive the call.
The Tibetan spiritual leader, that he took full on thebenefit of the freedom and religious harmony of India and is committed toreceiving ancient Indian knowledge.
The Dalai Lama thanked people from across the globe thathad wished him on his birthday via a video call from his residence inDharamshala and said that he would continue to serve humanity and combatclimate change.
“Since I became a refugee and settled in India, I havetaken full advantage of India's freedom and religious harmony. I want to assureyou that for the rest of my life I am committed to reviving ancient Indianknowledge,” said the 14th Dalai Lama
Further, he added, “I really appreciate the Indianconcept of secular values, not dependent on religion, such as honesty, karuna(compassion) and ahimsa (non-violence)”.
Two hours ago the Prime Minister tweeted,” Spoke on phoneto His Holiness the @DalaiLama to convey greetings on his 86th birthday. Wewish him a long and healthy life.” Which has currently received 37K likes andover 5,800 retweets.
For 62 years, the 14th Dalai Lama remained inexile and is a symbol of the struggle for the Tibetan people to the entireworld. He only desires to go on a pilgrimage to China to visit the Wutai Shan.