The Indian defence minister, George Fernandes, has said that the young Buddhist leader who fled from Tibet recently may be allowed to stay in India for a while.

Mr Fernandes' comments are the first suggestions by an Indian minister that the authorities in Delhi do not intend to deport the leader, the Karmapa Lama.

However, correspondents point out that they do not necessarily represent official government policy.

Mr Fernandes said there were no grounds for asking the boy to leave, but the Indian government had not received any request for political asylum.

He also said he did not believe the issue would harm India's relations with China. The Karmapa Lama arrived in India earlier this month after secretly crossing the Himalayas.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service