The Dalai Lama has been admitted to hospital in Delhi with a chest infection, says an aide.
After the 83-year-old Buddhist monk “felt some discomfort” he was flown to Delhi for a check-up yesterday and is now in a stable condition, says Tenzin Taklha, his personal secretary.
Taklha added: “Doctors have diagnosed him with a chest infection and he is being treated for that. His condition is stable now. He will be treated for two, three days here.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Tibetan fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He now lives in exile in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala, where India officially calls him a “most esteemed and honoured guest”.
China took control of Tibet in 1950 and its rulers see the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist. The selection of his eventual successor when he dies remains a matter of deep controversy.
Beijing says it has the right to choose a successor but the Dalai Lama stated last month that when he dies his incarnation could be found in India. He warned that any successor named by China would not be respected by his followers.
According to Tibetan Buddhist belief, the soul of its most senior lama is reincarnated into the body of a child.
But the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang says that the “reincarnation of living Buddhas including the Dalai Lama must comply with Chinese laws and regulations and follow religious rituals and historical conventions”.
There could also be geopolitical ramifications: many of the up to 100,000 Tibetans living in India fear that their struggle for a truly autonomous homeland would collapse when the Dalai Lama passes away.
-
Europe sets 2027 deadline to wean itself from Russian natural gasIN THE SPOTLIGHT As international negotiators attempt to end Russia’s years-long invasion of Ukraine, lawmakers across the EU have reached a milestone agreement to uncouple the continent’s gas consumption from Moscow’s petrochemical infrastructure
-
Benin thwarts coup attemptSpeed Read President Patrice Talon condemned an attempted coup that was foiled by the West African country’s army
-
Trump’s Comey case dealt new setbackspeed read A federal judge ruled that key evidence could not be used in an effort to reindict former FBI Director James Comey
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Nepal chooses toddler as its new ‘living goddess’Under the Radar Girls between two and four are typically chosen to live inside the temple as the Kumari – until puberty strikes
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
