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This page was brought to you by teams in Delhi, London, Singapore and Beijing, with inputs from Zoya Mateen, Vikas Pandey, Anahita Sachdev, Sharanya Hrishikesh, Meryl Sebastian, Cherylann Mollan, Neyaz Farooquee, Tessa Wong, Laura Bicker and Anbarasan Ethirajan, and reporting from Samira Hussain, Aamir Peerzada and Adnan Bhat in Dharamshala. It was edited by Nikhil Inamdar in London and Geeta Pandey in Delhi.

Image source, Getty Images

India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention but it hosts more than 100,000 Tibetans, according to India’s home ministry.

The Indian government grants them residential rights but not full citizenship, which limits their access to government jobs, property ownership and financial services.

Most of them live in 45 designated settlements across India, including the Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the southern state of Karnataka and national capital Delhi.

Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, where the Dalai Lama lives, acts as a home to the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Though many elder Tibetans continue to see India as a sanctuary, younger generations are increasingly migrating to the West in search of stability and opportunity.

At a press conference held earlier today, officials said that the nationality of the Dalai Lama's successor does not have to be restricted to Tibet.

A majority of Dalai Lamas - there have been 14 so far - have come from Tibet (which has been under Chinese control since 1950). The current Dalai Lama, who was identified as a reincarnation at the age of two, was born in Taktser in northeastern Tibet.

While it's rare, it's not uncommon for Dalai Lamas to be chosen from outside the Tibetan region. So far, two Dalai Lamas - the fourth and sixth - were chosen from outside the region.

The fourth Dalai Lama, Yonten Gyatso, was born in 1589 in Mongolia, while the sixth, Tsangyang Gyatso, was born in 1682 in the region of Mon Tawang in present-day Arunachal Pradesh in India.

Samira Hussain
From Dharamshala

Image source, Adnan Bhat/BBC

Pema Urgen, a 27-year-old Tibetan hotelier in Dharamshala, says she's among the "lucky ones" who get to attend the Dalai Lama's birthday celebrations this week.

"There are a lot of people who want to be here."

She is among many who were expecting an announcement from the leader.

"We were not sure what to expect, so we are finally relieved now."

Urgen says she's also praying for the Dalai Lama's long life.

"There was a lot of misinformation swirling around his His Holiness's succession that has been put to rest," she says. "Even though they (Chinese government) won’t like it and would want to question this decision, for Tibetans, His Holiness's word is all that matters."

Image source, Getty Images

While Hollywood celebrities Richard Gere and Sharon Stone are among the well-known followers of Tibetan Buddhism, many influential people from around the world regularly meet the Dalai Lama or attend his events.

In 2016, American pop singer Lady Gaga participated in an event where she and the Dalai Lama discussed topics such as mental health, meditation and spreading kindness.

The meeting outraged many of her fans in China, where the Tibetan spiritual leader is viewed as a separatist figure.

The Dalai Lama has also been photographed meeting world leaders such as former US presidents Barack Obama and George Bush; tech tycoons Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg and numerous sporting icons among others.

Laura Bicker
China correspondent

Scholars believe that China is already weaving a narrative that will help their own Dalai Lama be accepted by Tibetans by sending officials to schools and offices to describe Beijing’s own method of choosing a spiritual leader.

The Chinese will view succession with concern and as a potential flashpoint for trouble. Even in exile, the Dalai Lama remains Tibet’s spiritual leader, despite the Communist Party’s insistence that he is a separatist.

In 2008, hundreds of protestors took to the streets of the Tibetan capital of Lhasa in fierce anti-government demonstrations which erupted in a wave of violence.

The main cities of Tibet are now heavily surveilled and information in and out of the region is carefully controlled.

Today’s announcement is China’s way of signalling its total control over Tibet’s future.

A test of Beijing's powers of persuasionpublished at 10:23 British Summer Time 2 July

10:23 BST 2 July

Laura Bicker
China correspondent

The Dalai Lama’s statement said that “no one else has any authority to interfere” in choosing his successor. He means China.

But while answering questions I put to them at today’s foreign ministry press conference, Beijing has made it clear - they want the next Dalai Lama to come from China and the person must be approved by the Chinese government.

This is the scenario many analysts feared. The Dalai Lama had hinted in earlier statements that he may wish to find his successor before his death. This would mean there would be no gap and no time for China to find its own successor.

There may also be a scenario where the world is faced with two Dalai Lamas. One appointed by the Gaden Phodrang Trust and the other appointed by Beijing.

This could be a real test of Beijing’s powers of persuasion – which one does the world recognise?

Anbarasan Ethirajan
South Asia Regional Editor

Image source, Getty Images

For Tibetans, the Dalai Lama's departure in 1959 was a devastating turning point.

Thousands died fighting Chinese troops after he fled. The Tibetan rebellion was brutally suppressed. Many dissidents were deported to mainland China.

More than 80,000 fled their homeland.

After the Chinese government established the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) in 1965 a large number of Tibet’s monasteries and cultural artefacts were destroyed.

Beijing restored its people’s freedom to practice their religion in the 1980s, but monks and nuns often complained of persecution.

China also began a large-scale immigration of the Han Chinese which Beijing argued helped the region economically. But Tibetan leaders said it threatened their unique culture.

In 2008, tensions between Tibetan and Han Chinese communities in Lhasa erupted into deadly violence that lasted for several days.

Image source, Getty Images

Today, Tibet remains tightly controlled by Chinese authorities.

According to Human Rights Watch, since 2016 China has dramatically accelerated the relocation of rural villagers and herders in Tibet. It says the relocations—often to areas hundreds of kilometres away—are voluntary and will “improve people’s livelihood” opportunities.

Beijing also says the region is one of the fastest growing provincial economies, with fresh investments and improved living conditions.

But critics allege the flow of information from Tibet is tightly controlled.

Born as Lhamo Dhondup in 1935 to a farming family, the current Dalai Lama was just two years old when he was identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor.

Here are some photos of the 14th Dalai Lama, who chose the name Tenzin Gyatso, through the years.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Tessa Wong
Asia Digital Reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The issue of the Dalai Lama’s successor is a fraught one for Tibetans because of what happened to the Panchen Lama, the number two leader in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.

When the last Panchen Lama died in 1995, a successor was named - Gedhun Choekyi Nima, a six-year-old boy in Tibet. Soon after that announcement, the boy disappeared from public view.

The Chinese authorities have been accused of kidnapping him and holding him captive for 30 years, although Beijing maintains that the boy - now an adult - is safe and wants to be left alone.

Meanwhile the Chinese have named their own successor to the Panchen Lama but that person is not widely recognised among Tibetan Buddhists.

So there was naturally some anxiety among Tibetans about what would happen to anyone who is named by the Dalai Lama as his successor.

Samira Hussain
From Dharamshala

Image source, Adnan Bhat

Tsayang Gyatso, a 40-year-old businessman says he's come all the way from Delhi to be in Dharamshala today.

"Tibetans across the world are watching these celebrations, so I feel I’m blessed to be here in person to witness His Holiness's birthday."

For most Tibetans, the announcement is "a great relief and a moment of happiness", he says.

"I always had a belief that the reincarnation will come. But having heard it from His Holiness, I feel elated."

Gyatso says there has been "a lot of propaganda from China on the appointment of the next Dalai Lama".

"I feared they will corrupt the process but all that has been put to rest by His Holiness's announcement."

..here's a recap:

• Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has confirmed that he will have a successor after his death
• He said the Gaden Phodrang Trust, which he founded, had the authority to recognise his future reincarnation and that "no-one else has any authority to interfere"
• The long-awaited announcement was made in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala, where he has lived in exile since fleeing Tibet in 1959
• China, which annexed Tibet in the 1950s and regards the Dalai Lama as a separatist, rejected the statement, saying that his reincarnation needs to be approved by Beijing

As we have been reporting, it was clear that the Dalai Lama's statement would not be received well in Beijing - and now the foreign ministry reaction bears that out.

China annexed Tibet in the 1950s - in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India with his followers, and Beijing regards him as a separatist.

Ahead of today's message, Chinese state media had published strongly worded articles arguing that the Dalai Lama's succession could not be decided by an individual alone.

Beijing insists that the Dalai Lama's reincarnation needs government approval and will be chosen through the lot-drawing system. But the Dalai Lama has said his reincarnation will be born outside China - and urged his followers to reject anyone chosen by Beijing.

In today's address, he again made it clear that "no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter" - drawing Beijing's ire.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson adds that the identification of the Dalai Lama's successor can only be done through the lot-drawing system - where names are drawn from a golden urn.

The practice was introduced in 1792 and has been used to identify three reincarnations of the Dalai Lama in the past. It was not used in the selection of the current Dalai Lama.

The custom, Beijing says, is a "unique form" of Tibetan Buddhism and in line with the Chinese government's practice of "freedom of religious beliefs".

But critics say that China will use the method to exert pressure on the Tibetan community, a charge Beijing rejects.

We have just got Beijing's first official reaction to the Dalai Lama's announcement.

At a foreign ministry press briefing held just now, Beijing rejected the statement, saying that his reincarnation needs to be approved by the Chinese government.

The Dalai Lama's succession, it says, must comply with Chinese laws and regulations as well as "religious rituals and historical conventions".

Image source, Getty Images

India has hosted the Dalai Lama since March 1959, when he fled Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

While supporting him bolstered India’s democratic image and soft power, it also strained ties with China, which views the Dalai Lama as a separatist.

India has sheltered him and more than 100,000 Tibetan refugees, external, but it has been cautious about supporting Tibetan autonomy to avoid diplomatic fallout and tensions with its neighbour.

But it has openly defended the Dalai Lama’s right to continue his spiritual activities in India. In March 2025, 46 Indian MPs signed, external a declaration affirming the Dalai Lama’s exclusive right to choose his successor, rejecting China’s interference in the process.

Robert Barnett, a Tibet scholar at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, spoke to the BBC about the significance of the Dalai Lama’s statement earlier today.

Among other things, he says, the message is indirect signalling to China.

“He's signalling two things here. One is he's going to decide on his reincarnation, not China. And the other is he's showing China that he's made this decision through a kind of popular - we could say almost democratic - process of asking the community whether they want his institution to continue.”

That's a signal to China that his legitimacy is based on consent and not on force, Barnett says.

Cherylann Mollan
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

When the Dalai Lama arrived in India in March 1959 with thousands of followers, he was welcomed by then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Nehru gave him permission to form the Tibetan government-in-exile in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala.

The Dalai Lama and his followers created a society in the scenic hill town in which Tibetan language, culture, arts and religion have been promoted freely for decades.

Samira Hussain
Reporting from Dharamshala

The Dalai Lama's statement is a clear rebuke to China, which asserts it has the authority to choose the next spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists.

Top Buddhist leaders at a press conference a little later went one step further, saying they strongly condemned the People’s Republic of China's use of the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama for political gain.

We haven't officially heard from Beijing yet, but these comments are sure to draw its ire. China annexed Tibet in the 1950s and regards the 14th Dalai Lama as a separatist.

Zoya Mateen
Reporting from Delhi

Tibetan Buddhists believe their senior monks are reincarnated after death and a Dalai Lama is chosen by Buddhist officials if they are convinced that the one they are choosing harbours the soul of his predecessor.

The current Dalai Lama, the 14th, was identified as the reincarnation when he was two years old.

In March, he'd announced his successor would be born outside China and he would release more details around his 90th birthday - which is this week. This was significant as he had previously said the line of spiritual leaders might end with him.

He's now reiterated that the Gaden Phodrang Foundation - an organisation he founded in 2015 to maintain and support the Dalai Lama’s religious duties - will choose his successor.

The group’s senior officers, which include his aides, will carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition, according to his website, external.

“I shall leave clear written instructions about this. Bear in mind that apart from the reincarnation recognised through such legitimate methods, no recognition or acceptance should be given to a candidate chosen for political ends by anyone, including those in the People’s Republic of China.”