HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA: GREATEST AMBASSADOR OF INDIA'S SOFT POWER

India, with its inherent soft power, has the unique advantage of being home to the Dalai Lama, a living symbol of Buddhist teachings whose influence extends across the globe.

- SUJEET KUMAR

Yesterday, 6 July, marked the 89th birthday of Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, better known worldwide as “His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama”. This milestone was celebrated with great enthusiasm and reverence not only by Tibetans living in exile, but also by his admirers and followers around the world. Born on 6 July 1935, in the small village of Taktser in the Tibetan province of Amdo, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has resided in India since seeking refuge here in 1959, following the illegal invasion of Tibet by Communist China. As the highest spiritual leader and most revered figure in Tibetan Buddhism, he also served as the political head of Tibet until recently. Originally named Lhamo Thondup, meaning “WishFulfilling Goddess,” he has indeed embodied this title throughout his life.

For the past 65 years that His Holiness has spent in exile, he has almost singlehandedly kept the issue of the 7 million Tibetan Freedom Struggle alive during these uncertain times with his steadfastness, peaceful, and principled resistance against the belligerent People’s Republic of China (PRC).