Not President or PM, but Heads of Governments in India's territories coveted by China greet Dalai Lama on his 85th birthday

The heads of the local governments of India's two territories at the centre of its boundary dispute with China greeted Dalai Lama, as the global icon of the struggle against Chinese People's Liberation Army's 1950-51 occupation of Tibet turned 85 on Monday.

Amid continuing military standoff along the disputed India-China boundary in Ladakh, the Lieutenant Governor of the newest Union Territory of India, R K Mathur, used his official account on Twitter to greet the Dalai Lama. So did Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu.

"This day marks the 85th birth anniversary of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama @DalaiLama. I pray for his good health and #longevity. In these difficult times, his spiritual leadership gives strength," tweeted Mathur.

"A very warm birthday wishes to His Holiness the 14th #DalaiLama. On this special auspicious day of your 85th birthday, me and my family joins millions of followers across the globe, to rejoice and offer our prayers for your excellent health, happiness and long life," Khandu posted on Twitter.

China claims nearly 90,000 sq kms of areas in Arunachal Pradesh of India. The communist country is also illegally occupying about 38,000 sq kms of India's territory in Aksai Chin in east of Ladakh. Pakistan also illegally ceded 5180 sq kms of India's territory to China in 1963.

Ram Madhav, national general secretary of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, also greeted Dalai Lama on his birthday. So did United States' envoy to India, Ken Juster.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi however refrained from publicly greeting the octogenarian monk.

Any official interaction or engagement with Dalai Lama by India has been said to rile China.

Dalai Lama has been living in India ever since he fled the Potala Palace in Lhasa in March, 1959, to escape the Chinese PLA, which had by then occupied Tibet.

He has been a staunch advocate for non-violence and freedom, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. He has been demanding “genuine autonomy” – not independence from Chinese Government’s rule – for Tibet. Beijing, however, still calls him a “separatist” and accuses him of running a campaign to split China.

His visit to Rashtrapati Bhavan on an invitation from the then President Pranab Mukherjee in December 2016 triggered a strong protest from China. So did New Delhi’s decisions in 2009 and 2017 to allow him to visit Arunachal Pradesh. China last year sent some civilians and soldiers to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at Demchok in Ladakh in order to protest celebration of the 84th birthday of Dalai Lama by people in a border village in India.

New Delhi, however, always dismissed the protests from Beijing, underlining that the Dalai Lama was an honoured guest of India and he was always free to visit any part of the country.

But just two months before Modi had an “informal summit” with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Wuhan in central China on April 27 and 28, 2018, the cabinet secretariat issued an advisory in New Delhi asking “senior leaders” and “government functionaries” in the states as well as at the Centre to stay away from events attended by Dalai Lama.

New Delhi’s move was obviously intended to avoid irking Beijing ahead of Modi-Xi “informal summit”, which India had hoped would bring back on track its relation with China after it had reached its nadir over the 72-day-long military face-off between the two nations in Doklam Plateau in western Bhutan the previous year.

The official and public greetings by Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh and Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh on Dalai Lama's birthday once again signalled a U-turn in New Delhi's approach on engagement with the spiritual leader and exiled Tibetans in India - a move aimed at sending out a message to Beijing as the tense stand-off between the two nations on India and China's disputed boundary continues.