India has for long stated that the process of naming the successor is a long standing tradition that the Dalai Lama undertakes and no third party has a role to play here.

The statement puts to rest speculation that the Dalai Lama may be the last of Tibet's spiritual leaders, ending a line that stretches back centuries.

A day after the 14th Dalai Lama announced his succession plan, India on Thursday said the next Tibetan spiritual leader would be "chosen only by the present one and with the