The US has hinted that it will oppose any move by China to impose its own Dalai Lama on the Tibetan people as Washington believes that the decision to pick the successor to Tibet's current top Buddhist leader should be as per religious traditions and the state has no role in it.

China has grown increasingly wary about who will succeed the 14th Dalai Lama, who lives in India on exile. According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, when the current Dalai Lama passes away, he will reincarnate as another person. China has maintained that it has the authority to appoint the successor to the 14th Dalai Lama, who is loyal to Beijing.