PM Modi conveys greetings to Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on his 88th birthday

New Delhi [India], July 6 : On the occasion of 88th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to him and conveyed heartfelt greetings.

Taking to twitter PM Modi wrote, "Spoke to His Holiness @DalaiLama and conveyed heartfelt greetings to him on his 88th birthday. Wishing him a long and healthy life."

Visual surfaced from Ladakh of The Dalai Lama cutting a cake on his 88th birthday.

The 14th Dalai Lama known to the Tibetan people as Gyalwa Rinpoche, is the current Dalai Lama, also the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibet.

China considers Dalai Lama, who is living in exile in India for decades, a separatist intending to split the formerly independent region from the control of China, as per UCA News.

Chinese forces invaded and annexed Tibet in the 1950s under the pretext that it had always been a part of China.

According to the Dalai Lama, he only wants further autonomy for Tibet within China if there is a guarantee that its religion, language, and culture will be preserved.

The Shartsa monks can be seen registering their names on a board on the wall in a photo that RFA got from Tibet.

"We will vigorously take part in opposing the Dalai Lama clique and will remain loyal and devoted to the country (China)," reads the text on the board, according to UCA News.

Another exiled Tibetan who wished to remain unnamed claimed that as part of their searches, the authorities had been looking through the monks' prayer manuscripts and books and taking prayer flags from shrines.

A monk in exile said, "They did not give any sort of warning before conducting these random searchers," adding, "The monks in these monasteries were summoned for a meeting where they were forced to sign documents renouncing the Dalai Lama and separatism."

Tibetans were angered by China's acquisition of their territory because they saw it as an occupation by a foreign power. China violently put down an uprising in Tibet against Chinese control in 1959.

Despite Chinese persecution, Tibetans have fought and gave up their lives for independence for many years, UCA News reported.