India has reportedly made it clear that only the Dalai Lama and the religious traditions he follows can decide who succeeds him. The statement comes just days before the revered spiritual leader's 90th birthday and soon after China asserted that the next Dalai Lama must be approved by its central government.

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.

The Dalai Lama says he'll have a successor, after all, ending years of speculation that he might be the last person to hold the role and meaning he'd be reincarnated.