China protests PM’s b’day greetings to Dalai Lama

China on Monday lodged a diplomatic protest with India over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday greetings to the 14th Dalai Lama and the participation of Indian officials in the Tibetan spiritual leader’s 90th birthday celebrations in McLeodganj.

This marks the third such protest by Beijing in the past four days, signalling rising tensions over Tibet-related matters.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in a statement that India must be “fully cognisant of the sensitivity” of issues concerning Xizang — Beijing’s term for Tibet — and accused the Dalai Lama of being “anti-China” and “separatist” in nature.

“China has lodged protests with India regarding its actions,” Mao said. “India must honour the commitments it has made on Tibet, act prudently and stop using those issues to interfere in China’s internal affairs,” she added.

The diplomatic row comes shortly after the Dalai Lama publicly affirmed that the institution of the Dalai Lama would continue and outlined the process for identifying his reincarnation — while pointedly excluding any role for China in the matter.

India, meanwhile, downplayed the protest. “We have been extending birthday wishes to the Dalai Lama for years — this is nothing new,” a source in New Delhi said.

This marks the third such protest by Beijing in the past four days. On Sunday, Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong posted on X that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation is “an internal affair of China” and warned against external interference.

China had also issued back-to-back statements on July 4, cautioning India to avoid “interfering” in Tibet-related matters to prevent any negative impact on bilateral ties.

India, which hosts the Dalai Lama in exile and a large Tibetan community, has maintained that religious freedom includes the community’s right to choose the Tibetan spiritual leader’s successor.