Wish India speaks more about Tibet's cause: Lobsang Sangay

Appreciating India's support for allowing its people to live here, Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile Lobsang Sangay has said he wished that New Delhi "speaks more" about the cause of Tibet.

"India is doing a lot as far as it can from a humanitarian point of view and of course we wish the Indian government speaks more for Tibet and Tibetan people, but as a guest, humble guest, we can't complain," he told Karan Thapar in his Devil's Advocate programme on CNN-IBN.

Sangay was asked to comment on Dalai Lama's statement that India is too timid but prefers timidity to outspokenness when it comes to China. "India has done the heaviest lifting till this date. The largest numbers of Tibetans are in India and we owe a lot to the Indian people and India's kindness and gratitude," he said.

Asked if the Tibetan cause was lost in view of the rise of China on the global stage, Sangay said, "It is not...The Tibetan spirit, inside and outside is strong, that's the key. As long as we have that, our issue is very much alive and his holiness The Dalai Lama has led us brilliantly for all these years." He said it was for Indian people and leadership to debate, discuss and formulate a long-term policy on Tibet.

"That is for Indian people to decide. As per the Indian media, China has, in a sense, surrounded India. If you look at the land border, and inside Tibet and sea-port in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and also in Bangladesh, so all this is reality," he said.

On whether any country would want to annoy China at the time of recession, he said, "I understand the concern of the world, including India, because they are not used to or familiar with China... So, at this time yes, we see China on the rise but the 13th Dalai Lama had fled to India in 1910."