By Carien Du Plessis and Sapa-AFP
The Dalai Lama says the recent decision by the South African government to refuse him a visa to attend a peace conference of Nobel laureates was the result of Chinese diplomatic pressure, but said the decision had backfired by generating a storm of publicity.
"Because of (the) Chinese protest, more publicity. Ultimately, I have to thank the Chinese," he said.
He was speaking in New Delhi on the 50th anniversary of his 1959 crossing of the Indian border as he fled Tibet.
Meanwhile, ANC president Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday that the government preferred to be safe rather than sorry in deciding against granting the Dalai Lama a visa.
Zuma, who said he could not speak for the government, did not rule out a future visit by the Dalai Lama, however.
Speaking at a breakfast meeting at the Auckland Park Country Club on Tuesday, Zuma said South Africa was not the only country to refuse the Dalai Lama entry in March.
He mentioned French President Nicholas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama in Poland in December, which incurred China's wrath.
China withdrew from a summit with the European Union planned for the same month in protest. France subsequently had to apologise in order to mend relations with China, Zuma said.
French officials are reportedly poised to visit China later in April for this purpose.
"The government took a decision which I'm sure they'll explain. And as I understood, they did not say the Dalai Lama could not come to South Africa.
"I think they are saying March, the month March, is a serious month between the Dalai Lama and China in a very specific way," Zuma said.
The 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's escape into exile in India falls during March.
"There are relations between countries that have specific protocols and certain things to be respected in one form or the other," Zuma said.
Zuma also defended former president Thabo Mbeki's quiet diplomacy on Zimbabwe, saying this policy was unlikely to change under a new ANC administration.
He said Mbeki's stand on Zimbabwe was the "collective approach" of the ANC and government.
Mbeki only happened to be the president who had implemented that policy.
Zuma said Mbeki had continued as mediator in Zimbabwe after his sacking in 2008 because of his knowledge of the process.
He said there was much world condemnation about what was happening in Zimbabwe, but South Africa decided instead to engage with its neighbour.