New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the Dalai Lama to convey greetings to the Tibetan spiritual leader on his 86th birthday.

Taking to twitter, he said, 'Spoke on phone to His Holiness the @DalaiLama to convey greetings on his 86th Birthday. We wish him a long and healthy life".

The 14th Dalai Lama has made India his home since fleeing China in 1959.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk. He is the spiritual leader of Tibet. He was born on 6 July 1935, to a farming family, in a small hamlet located in Taktser, Amdo, northeastern Tibet. At the age of two, the child, then named Lhamo Dhondup, was recognized as the reincarnation of the previous 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso.

In 1950, after China's invasion of Tibet, His Holiness was called upon to assume full political power. In 1959, following the brutal suppression of the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa by Chinese troops, His Holiness was forced to escape into exile. Since then he has been living in Dharamsala, northern India.

(Agencies)