India, July 2 -- The Dalai Lama said on Wednesday that the 600-year-old institution of the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhists will continue and identified a body created by him as the sole authority to recognise his successor, effectively shutting out any role for China in deciding his reincarnation.

In 2011, the Dalai Lama had said he would decide by his 90th birthday, which falls on July 6 this year, whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue. Over the years, the Dalai Lama has also said that the institution of the Dalai Lama could be wound up or that his successor could be a woman or someone born outside Tibet.

The Communist Party of China has insisted that Chinese authorities will anoint the next Dalai Lama by pullin...