Dalai Lama says his successor may be found in India

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, said on Monday it was possible that once he dies his incarnation could be found in India, where he has lived in exile for 60 years, and warned that any other successor named by China would not be respected

The 14th Dalai Lama spoke spoke to the news agency a day after Tibetans in Himachal Pradesh's Dharamshala marked the anniversary of the Dalai Lama's escape from Tibet's capital of Lhasa in 1959. He fled to India during the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule and has since called for linguistic and cultural autonomy in Tibet.

"China considers Dalai Lama's reincarnation as something very important," the Dalai Lama said. "They have more concern about the next Dalai Lama.In future, in case you see two Dalai Lamas come, one from here, in free country, one chosen by Chinese, then nobody will trust, nobody will respect [the one chosen by China].

He said the role of the Dalai Lama following his death, including whether to continue having it, could be discussed during a meeting of Tibetan Buddhists in India later this year. "If the majority of [Tibetan people] really want to keep this institution, then this institution will remain," he said. "Then comes the question of the reincarnation of the 15th Dalai Lama."