The Dalai Lama consecrates monastery in India’s northeast

Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has consecrated a Buddhist monastery for religious purposes in India’s remote northeast, ignoring Chinese warning that his visit to a disputed border region would damage bilateral relations with India. (Photo: Dalai Lama/Flickr)

GAUHATI, India — Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has consecrated a Buddhist monastery for religious purposes in India’s remote northeast, ignoring Chinese warning that his visit to a disputed border region would damage bilateral relations with India.

Indian official Jemba Tshering says nearly 10,000 people, some of them from neighbouring Bhutan, greeted the Dalai Lama on Thursday at the Thubchok Gatsel Ling Monastery in Tawang district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China considers Arunachal Pradesh as its own territory.

The Dalai Lama’s website said he separately addressed young monks and a study group. The Indian governor and the top elected official of Arunachal Pradesh accompanied him.