The Dalai Lama had expressed concern over the growing Chinese population in Tibet. The Dalai Lama, who was in Kolkata on Monday.
To speak on "Ethics in Human Development" at an event organised by the 'Young Men's Welfare Society', had said that Tibetans' demand for autonomy was being compromised by the Chinese authorities who were deliberately increasing their population in Tibet through immigration in the name of development. "For a meaningful autonomy in Tibet, its population should remain largely Tibetan," the Dalai Lama had said. He had added that India and China should try to develop genuine friendship based on mutual trust. However, he added that relations between the two Asian giants could only improve with a solution to the Tibet issue.
From Kolkata, His Holiness flies to Agartala, the capital of the northeastern Indian state of Tripura for a two-day visit to the state where he is scheduled to address religious gatherings of Bankul Dharmadwipa High School and Venuban Buddhist monastery. Sources in Agartala had said that the Dalai Lama's first visit to the state had generated 'tremendous enthusiasm and interest among Buddhist Mog and Chakma communities and even among the non-tribals'. The Mogs and Chakmas fled their homes in Chittagong, Bangladesh and settled in South Tripura in a phased manner since the 1947 India-Pakistan Partition.