Dalai Lama Hospitalized with Chest Infection - Reports

The Dalai Lama, 83, has been taken to a private hospital in New Delhi after he was diagnosed with a chest infection, Fox News and Reuters reported Tuesday, citing the spiritual leader's private secretary.

"Today [Tuesday] morning his holiness felt some discomfort, and he was flown to Delhi for [a] checkup … Doctors have diagnosed him with chest infection, and he is being treated for that. His condition is stable now. He will be treated for two [to] three days here", Tenzin Taklha told Reuters.

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The Tibetan spiritual leader has been living in exile in India since China formally took over Tibet in 1959. Beijing has demanded that India stop using the Dalai Lama, who visited the Arunachal Pradesh, India's northeastern-most state, which borders Tibet, six times between 1983 and 2009, to undermine China’s interests and focus on deescalating tensions between the two powers.

Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama, the 14th leader to bear the title, of attempts to separate Tibet from China, and urges foreign leaders to respect the territorial integrity of China and avoid meeting with the Buddhist leader. The Chinese State Council also slammed the former leader of Tibet for attempting to retain feudalism in the region before Beijing restored control over the area.

Tibet is an autonomous region that seeks independence from China. Relations between the region and Beijing are tense, as many Tibetans accuse Chinese authorities of suppressing Tibetan culture, as well as freedom of expression and worship. Tibet's government-in-exile is based in India.

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