Buddhist devotees young and old waited for a glimpse of the Dalai Lama at a polo ground near the remote Tawang monastery in the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh yesterday. As many as 30,000 people, some of whom had camped out for days beforehand, heard the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader’s call for compassion and peace around the world.

The 74-year-old Nobel laureate insisted that his visit to the area, ownership of which has long been claimed by India and China, was non-political after Chinese officials accused him of seeking to stir up tensions between Delhi and Beijing.

“He is our God, he is the living Buddha. A glimpse of the Dalai Lama is like getting spiritual power inside you,” said Sherba Lama, a monk who had walked from a village close to the border with China to attend the prayer meeting.

Tawang holds memories for the Dalai Lama: he first sought refuge there when fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. “There are a lot of emotions involved,” he said. “When I escaped from China, I was mentally and physically very weak.”

Tensions over the disputed Himalayan border, the trigger for a brief but bloody war between India and China in 1962, have risen in recent months, with reports of troop movements on both sides. (AFP)

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