Dalai Lama has "no regrets" over handling China

New Delhi, Apr. 1 (ANI): Tibet's spiritual leader-in-exile Dalai Lama has said he has "no regrets" over the way he has dealt with Beijing, even after five decade-long fruitless negotiations with China.

Speaking on the 50th anniversary of his exile to India, the Dalai Lama argued that all his important policy decisions regarding China were correct.

"My major decisions, as time has passed, seem correct. So, no regrets," The Telegraph quoted him, as saying in New Delhi.

The spiritual leader was only 16 when he assumed full political power in Tibet in 1950, even as troops from China's People's Liberation Army were marching towards Lhasa.

He fled the country nine years later following a failed uprising against Chinese rule, and set up a government-in-exile in Dharamshala, the northern Indian hill town.

In recent times, the Dalai Lama's "middle way" approach, which espoused autonomy for Tibet rather than outright independence, has witnessed opposition in within the Tibetan movement.

"Sometimes colleagues have had some doubts and reservations about my decisions, but then gradually as time passes they have said, 'Oh, your decisions were 100 per cent right'," the 73-year-old Buddhist monk calmly said.

However, he admitted that his efforts to secure the freedom and well-being of the Tibetans had borne little fruit.

"Will that change over the next 50 years? That is very difficult to predict," the Dalai Lama said, criticizing the Chinese government for refusing to acknowledge the opposition of the Tibetan population to Chinese rule.

"The Chinese propaganda machine paints a rosy picture," he added.

The Dalai Lama once again blamed a Chinese pressure for the South African Government's decision to refuse him a visa to attend a peace conference of Nobel laureates.

"Because of Chinese protest, more publicity. Ultimately, I have to thank the Chinese," he said. (ANI)