India on Thursday affirmed that the successor to the 14th Dalai Lama will be chosen solely by the current spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists himself and in accordance with established religious traditions, the Hindustan Times reported.

“All those who follow the Dalai Lama feel that the incarnation is to be decided by the established convention and as per the wish of the Dalai Lama himself,” Union minister Kiren Rijiju was quoted as saying by PTI. “Nobody else has the right to decide it except him and the conventions in place.”

New Delhi also said that Rijiju, along with Union minister Rajeev Ranjan Singh, would attend the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday celebrations on Sunday, The Indian Express reported.

This came a day after China said that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation needed to be approved by the Chinese government. Beijing said that the succession must follow Chinese laws as well as “religious rituals and historical conventions”.

The statements by New Delhi and Beijing followed remarks from the 14th Dalai Lama, who said on Wednesday that a trust he had founded held the sole prerogative to decide on his successor, and that no one else had the authority to interfere in the matter.

“I hereby reiterate that the Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognise the future reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” the Dalai Lama said.

The Gaden Phodrang Trust is a non-profit organisation that the 14th Dalai Lama set up in 2015 to support the institution of the Dalai Lama.

However, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said that the Dalai Lama’s successor could be identified only through a system of drawing lots, in which names are drawn from a golden urn. Critics allege that China will misuse this method to exert pressure on the Tibetan community.

The system of drawing lots, which began in 1792, was used to identify three reincarnations of the Dalai Lama. However, it was not used to select the current Dalai Lama.

The current Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 following an uprising against Chinese rule and took refuge in India with around 80,000 followers. He has since lived in Himachal Pradesh’s Dharamshala, where he formed the Tibetan government-in-exile.

The Chinese government has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of “separatist” activities.

The Dalai Lama had previously said that his successor would be born outside China, and had urged his followers to reject anyone that Beijing would choose.