Dalai Lama arrives at Tawang

Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh), Nov 8 : Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has arrived in Tawang.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and members of the reception committee received him. The Dalai Lama is undertaking a week-long visit of the state.

In Tawang, Tibetan motifs lined up to welcome the Dalai Lama on his sixth visit to the state. After his arrival, the spiritual leader proceeded to the world famous Tawang monastery.

He will deliver religious discourses in Tawang, Dirang, Bomdila and Itanagar.

The religious leader will also inaugurate a library and a state-of-the-art hospital in Tawang. The state government has made elaborate security arrangements for his visit.

Earlier, China had objected to the Dalai Lama's visit to Tawang, but New Delhi gave its nod to the visit, saying he was free to travel anywhere in India.

The governments of India and China were recently involved in a verbal spat over the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which China lays claim to.

The visit brings the Tibetan spiritual leader to the edge of his Himalayan homeland, which is under Chinese control for the last fifty years.

While India has honoured the Dalai Lama as a revered state guest, it has made it very clear that he is not supposed to indulge in political activities or discuss the India-China boundary question.

--ANI