DHARAMSHALA, India (Reuters) -A senior Indian minister has said that only the Dalai Lama and the organization he has set up have the authority to identify his successor as the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, in a rare comment contradicting rival China's long-held position.

The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, said on Wednesday that upon his death he would be reincarnated as the next spiritual leader and that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust would be able to identify his successor. He previously said the person would be born outside China.

Beijing says it has the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor as a legacy from imperial times.

Kiren Rijiju, India's minister of parliamentary and minority affairs, made a rare statement on the matter on Thursday, ahead of visiting the Dalai Lama's base in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala for the religious leader's 90th birthday on Sunday.

"No one has the right to interfere or decide who the successor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be," Indian media quoted Rijiju as telling reporters.

"Only he or his institution has the authority to make that decision. His followers believe that deeply. It’s important for disciples across the world that he decides his succession."

Rijiju, a practising Buddhist, will be joined by other Indian officials at the birthday celebrations.

In response to the remarks, China's foreign ministry warned India on Friday against interfering in its domestic affairs at the expense of bilateral relations, urging it to be prudent in its words and actions.

"We hope the Indian side will fully understand the highly sensitive nature of Tibet-related issues, recognise the anti-China separatist nature of the 14th Dalai Lama," spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular press conference.

In a statement issued late on Friday afternoon, India's foreign ministry said the country does not take any position or speak on matters concerning beliefs and practices of faith and religion.

"Government has always upheld freedom of religion for all in India and will continue to do so," foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in the statement.

India is estimated to be home to tens of thousands of Tibetan Buddhists who are free to study and work there. Many Indians revere the Dalai Lama, and international relations experts say his presence in India gives New Delhi a measure of leverage with China.

Relations between India and China nosedived after a deadly border clash in 2020 but are slowly improving now.

(Reporting by Krishna N. Das in Dharamshala; Additional reporting by Joe Cash in Beijing; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Sharon Singleton)