BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: The recent defection of a 14-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader could develop into a political tug-of-war between India and China. CNN's Kasra Naji reports from New Delhi.</s>KASRA NAJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tibetan officials in exile in India have confirmed to CNN that security around the young man known as the Karmapa has been stepped-up. The reason: An increasing number of pilgrims who are arriving in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala, hoping to receive personal blessings from the Karmapa, who is regarded as the 17th reincarnation of the Buddha. He has been taken to a monastery just outside Dharamsala to rest after his week-long journey, some of the way on foot through ice and snow across the Himalayas to reach India. India's government is considering how to respond to a veiled warning from China not to give political asylum to the Karmapa. A spokesman for the Chinese government says China hopes India will honor its commitment to improve relations with China. India is concerned the Karmapa, who was discovered and enthroned eight years ago as a spiritual leader of the Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism, could jeopardize that commitment. The flight of the Karmapa has put the spotlight back on the issue of religious persecution in China.</s>JAMES RUBIN, U.S. STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: We are concerned about reports that the sherpu monastery from which the Karmap Lama fled has been raided, and that two monks have been arrested. We will be trying to confirm this report. We have long been deeply disturbed about the human-rights situation in Tibet, and particularly the tight restrictions on Tibeten Buddhism.</s>NAJI: The Dalai Lama, who is the highest spiritual leader of all Tibetan Buddhists, has been silent on the Karmapa's flight from China. He is said to be in retreat for two months, a period of meditation he broke briefly last week to welcome the Karmapa. Kasra Naji, CNN, New Delhi.
Flight Of Tibetan Spiritual Leader to India Puts Spotlight on Religious Persecution in China