NEW DELHI — Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is recovering steadily from surgery to remove gallstones but will not leave hospital until later in the week, doctors said on Monday.
The 73-year-old had the keyhole procedure in New Delhi on Friday after he was admitted to hospital with abdominal pain.
The Dalai Lama’s spokesman Tenzin Taklha had said he would be released on Tuesday, but on Monday a doctor at the Sir Ganga Ram hospital told AFP it would be Wednesday or Thursday.
“We want to be absolutely certain about his health,” the doctor said, adding the Dalai Lama was “recovering steadily.”
Taklha said the Tibetan spiritual leader was “absolutely fine” but would remain in hospital for at least another two days.
The Dalai Lama set up base in Dharamshala after fleeing from his Tibetan homeland in China in 1959 following a failed anti-Chinese uprising.
After his release from hospital, the 1989 Nobel peace prize winner will remain in the Indian capital for a week for post-surgery examination, doctors said.
He would however visit Japan as planned, and resume his Buddhist teachings a week after returning to Dharamshala, Taklha added.
A similar episode in August forced the Nobel Laureate to cancel his engagements and rush to a hospital in Mumbai.
After he was released from hospital on September 1 following tests to determine the cause of the earlier bout of pain, his office cancelled a planned October tour to Germany and Switzerland, citing health reasons.
In the weeks preceding his illness, the Dalai Lama had pursued a hectic international itinerary as he campaigned for improved human rights in Tibet while China hosted the Olympic Games in August.
Beijing has accused him of masterminding riots against Chinese rule in the Tibetan capital Lhasa and neighbouring areas with Tibetan populations in March in order to destabilise the country — a claim he denies.
