NEW DELHI: The Dalai Lama praised Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday for being “more realistic” and principled than his predecessors, a day after Xi’s three-day visit to India ended.

The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader has lived in exile for decades in India’s Himalayan foothill city of Dharamsala, after fleeing China following a failed 1959 uprising.

The arrangement has irritated Beijing, which has long accused the Dalai Lama of fomenting unrest and encouraging Buddhist monks to self-immolate in demanding more autonomy for Tibet, a Himalayan region in western China.

However, Beijing’s attitude appears to be shifting, the Dalai Lama said, noting that China’s Communist leaders, who officially are atheist, are now “mentioning the importance of spiritualism.”

“There are a lot of changes,” the Dalai Lama told reporters.

He said that since becoming president in March 2013, Xi has demonstrated “through his handling of problems, he is comparatively more realistic and with more principles” than his predecessors.

The remarks brought no immediate comment from China’s government or state media. However, Beijing has previously denounced the Dalai Lama as a separatist traitor and warned that any of his moderate comments are deceptive. China insists the Himalayan region has been part of Chinese territory for centuries, while Tibetans say it was virtually independent until China occupied it in 1950.

Published in Dawn, September 21st , 2014