Dalai Lama, hospitalized with chest infection, feeling better, spokesman says
New Delhi -- The Dalai Lama has been hospitalized in the Indian capital with a chest infection and is feeling better, a spokesperson said Wednesday.
The 83-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader is taking medication and will likely spend a day or two in the hospital, Tenzin Taklha said.
The Dalai Lama flew from Dharmsala for consultations with doctors in the capital and was hospitalized on Tuesday.
The north Indian hill town has been his headquarters since he fled Tibet in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
Takhla said the Dalai Lama was feeling much better now but had already cut down on travel in the past year in order to tend to his health.
Social media users posted messages of prayer for his fast recovery, the Reuters news service said.
One tweet reported by Reuters, from Naveen Patnaik, chief minister of India's eastern state of Odisha said, "Concerned that he has been hospitalized. The world needs him."
The Dalai Lama usually spends several months a year traveling the world to teach Buddhism and highlight the Tibetans' struggle for greater freedom in China.
"Long-distance travelling is tiresome. Generally, he is in very good health. But he is taking precautions," Taklha told The Associated Press.
The Dalai Lama addressed a conference of educators and students in New Delhi last week.
Answering a question related to Tibet's future with China, he reiterated that he isn't seeking independence for Tibet, but would prefer a "reunion" with China under mutually acceptable terms.