PM Modi wishes Dalai Lama on his 87th birthday, prays for 'good health'

NEW DELHI: For the second year in succession, PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday spoke to Dalai Lama on the Tibetan spiritual leader's birthday and wished him well. In what was seen as a signal to China in the middle of the military standoff in Ladakh, Modi had last year for the first time spoken to Dalai Lama on his birthday since taking over as PM in 2014 and also tweeted about the same.
While China maintains that the door for talks and negotiations with Dalai Lama remains open, Beijing wants him to give up his alleged efforts to "split the motherland".
"Conveyed 87th birthday greetings to His Holiness the Dalai Lama over phone. We pray for his long life and good health," the Prime Minister tweeted on Wednesday.
India and China are yet to fully resolve the standoff in eastern Ladakh even though the situation at the LAC has improved from what it was last year, and in 2020 following the Galwan clash, in which both sides suffered casualties. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi visited India earlier this year and Beijing claimed after his visit that both sides had similar positions on major international issues.