A senior Indian minister has said that only the Dalai Lama and the organization he has set up have the authority to identify his successor as the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, in a rare comment contradicting rival China's long-held position.

He does not live at the Panchen Lama’s traditional seat, Tashi Lunpo monastery in Tibet’s Shigatse city, but in Beijing and visits Tibet for a few months each year to meet government officials and take part in religious ceremonies, according to Chinese state media.