Doklam row not serious, Hindi, Chini Bhai-Bhai, says Dalai Lama

New Delhi: Describing the ongoing Doklam standoff as “not very serious”, Tibetan supreme spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Wednesday invoked the famous “Hindi, Chini Bhai-Bhai”, a well-known catch phrase that defined Sino- India ties in the 1950s, stressing that the two neighbours have to live side by side in peace.

Asserting that any problem has to be resolved through talks, the 81-year-old said the theme of 21st century should be dialogue. “That’s the only away. One side’s retreat and defeat is an old-time thinking. In modern times, every country is dependent on each other,” the Dalai Lama  was quoted by news agencies, while speaking at the Rajendra Mathur Memorial Lecture organised by Editors Guild of India in New Delhi.

The spiritual leader, who calls himself a “chela” of India, also needled China saying he could do more in India which had freedom. “Where there is no freedom, I don’t like.”

“There is some tension, but I do not think it is very serious. We need to make distinction between people and governments. The other day, I said that Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai is the only way. India and China have to live side by side,” the Dalai Lama said, adding, “propaganda and wrong information complicate things.”

The Dalai Lama, who had fled a Chinese crackdown in Lhasa and took shelter in India in 1959, said occasionally the two neighbours used “harsh words” and recalled that the Chinese forces had finally withdrawn though they had reached Bomdila in 1962.

The Dalai Lama has been strongly criticised by Beijing as a “splittist” threatening China’s unity while he is revered in India and the rest of the world as a spiritualist.

The Dalai Lama’s comments come amid the continuing Sino-Indian military stand-off in Bhutan’s Doklam area which both India and Bhutan consider Bhutanese territory. China however regards it as its territory and calls it Dong Lang.