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Dalai Lama gets grand reception in Ladakh

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The Dalai Lama being received by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at Bakula Airport in Leh, Ladakh, India. Abdullah himself drove the Dalai Lama from the airport to his summer palace at Choglamsar.PTI/India

The Dalai Lama arrived in Ladakh on Sunday to a grand reception accorded by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his cabinet colleagues receiving him at the airport, according to agencies.

Abdullah himself drove the Dalai Lama from Bakula Airport to his palace in Choglamsar.

Local Ladakhis, representing religions including Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Christians lined up along the roads holding flowers and Khata to welcome the Tibetan leader.

The Dalai Lama had just returned from a three-nation European tour that brought him to Poland, Germany and Switzerland, where the Polish capital Warsaw made the 1989 Nobel Peace laureate an honorary citizen.

The European tour itinerary included talks and teachings on what the Dalai Lama calls ‘secular ethics’ and ‘inter religious harmony’. Although no governments accorded official reception to him, he spoke extensively about the ‘crisis in Tibet,’ saying climate change poses a bigger threat to Tibet than the current political pressures. During his trip he also opened a Sino-Tibetan scholars conference entitled “Finding Common Ground” in Geneva on 6 August.

Later at the palace in Choglamsar the Dalai Lama told Abdullah that he had a very friendly relationship with his grandfather late Sheikh Abdullah and father Dr Farooq Abdullah. The Dalai Lama praised Abdullah as a young and dynamic leader, and said that the state of J&K will have a bright future under his leadership.

During his 20-day tour of Ladakh, he will give Buddhist teachings in Leh and Zanskar.

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