The Dalai
Lama arrived in India's northeastern state of Assam on Saturday ahead of a
visit to neighboring Arunachal Pradesh, a region run by New Delhi but claimed
by Beijing.
The Tibetan
spiritual leader's trip is expected to fuel tensions between India and China
over strategic issues such as China's growing ties with India's arch-rival
Pakistan. China claims the region in the eastern Himalayas as "South
Tibet".
The Dalai
Lama told Reuters TV at the airport in the Assam city of Guwahati that his
visit was to promote religious harmony.
He said he
was happy to be back in a region that revived his memories of escape from Tibet
in 1959, after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
"I
still feel the feeling of that time," he said.
China, which
considers the Dalai Lama a dangerous separatist, said on Friday it was
"resolutely opposed" to the visit, and urged India to "avoid
taking any actions that would further complicate the border issue".
An Indian
government official said on Friday that the Dalai Lama's visit was religious,
not political.
(Reuters)
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