DHARMSALA, India - Officials say the Tibetan government-in-exile won't hold any celebrations to mark the Dalai Lama's birthday today because of the ongoing suffering of the people of Tibet.
The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader turns 73.
A spokesman of the exiled government in the northern Indian city of Dharmsala says Tibetans all over the world will be praying today for the long life of the Dalai Lama, but the celebrations of previous years are absent.
Violent anti-China protests that started in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on March 10 resulted in a clampdown by the Chinese authorities resulting in many deaths and arrests in the region, Tibetan activists and officials allege.
China has governed Tibet since communist troops marched into the Himalayan region in the 1950s.
The Dalai Lama, who fled to India amid a failed uprising in 1959, has said he wants some form of autonomy that would allow Tibetans to freely practice their culture, language and religion.
Two special envoys of the Dalai Lama, who returned Thursday from Beijing after two days of talks with Chinese government officials, termed the talks as "one of the most difficult so far.''
Lodi Gyari, one of the Tibetan envoys told reporters in New Delhi that he did not expect a breakthrough in the negotiations any time soon.
