India has to do no more than let the Dalai Lama be the Dalai Lama in order to rile China from time to time.As diplomatic provocation goes, the Dalai Lama's just-concluded visit to Arunachal Pradesh was quite like the six previous ones, the last one being in 2009. The logic seems to be that since China treats all things Dalai Lama short of his breathing as political, India might as well make the most of it.The Dalai Lama's visit to Tawang, the town along the India-China border where the sixth Dalai Lama was born 334 years ago, has always had unnerving optics for Beijing. It was in a way aimed at riling Beijing by letting the Dalai Lama be the Dalai Lama. Its Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying the next Dalai Lama will be chosen by drawing lots from a sacred urn in Lhasa. The Dalai Lama has dismissed the idea of Beijing choosing his incarnation as "nonsense".For New Delhi, the Dalai Lama remains significant leverage even though, at 81, time may not be on his side.

Source: Economic Times April 12, 2017 05:37 UTC