Itanagar [Arunachal Pradesh], 15th December: The Dalai Lama said on Sunday [15th December] that with the improvement of relations between India and China in recent years, the question of self-determination of Tibetan people would become a reality.

Addressing a gathering of intellectuals at Vivekananda Hall here, he said he had been striving for genuine autonomy for the six million Tibetans living in political and cultural wilderness since 1959. They had to take refuge in many countries, particularly India.

He, however, alleged that "a cultural genocide by Chinese authorities" was in the offing to destroy Tibetan culture and Buddhist philosophy, which was the real identity of the Tibetan people. Violence would never bring peace to earth and urged them to have self-confidence and determination to build the nation, the Dalai Lama later said while addressing a large gathering of students from the northeast on the occasion of third youth cultural festival organized by North-East Students' Organization (NESO)...