The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has said he envisages a return to his homeland in his lifetime, in his first live, online interview.

The Dalai Lama answered questions e-mailed to BBC News Online from users around the world, via a video-phone link from the Indian hill town of Dharamsala.

Questions put to the spiritual leader by the BBC's South Asia correspondent, Mike Wooldridge, ranged from the internet to the future of Tibet.

Returning home

Dharamsala, which sits at the foot of the Himalayas in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, has been the Dalai Lama's home since 1959.

But the spiritual leader told BBC News Online that rapid changes taking place on a global level - and in particular Asia and China - had given him hope that a "mutually agreeable solution" could be found, to enable him to return to Tibet.

Tens of thousands of people followed the Tibetan leader when he fled his homeland after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Power of the internet

The community has a strong online presence, with messages from the spiritual leader being regularly posted on an official Tibetan Government in Exile website.

In his first interactive, online interview, the Dalai Lama told the BBC that the internet was "very useful" tool for disseminating clear and accurate information around the world.

"It will make clear what is truth, what is reality and what is false propaganda," he said.

"I think that each individual should use their own intelligence or mind to investigate further."

Messages of goodwill

In a display of enthusiasm for the medium, the Dalai Lama used the one-and-a-half-minute delay in transmission of the interview to rush into an adjoining room to watch himself live on a computer linked to the internet.

Wednesday's interview coincided with 60th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's enthronement, and thousands of News Online users had taken the opportunity to e-mail messages of goodwill.

Celebrations in Dharamsala last week brought together the heads of all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism, including the 14-year-old Karmapa Lama who escaped from Tibet last December.

Answering a question from Canada on the role of the young leader, the Dalai Lama described him as "one of the highest leaders in the community" and said he possessed a "very clear and strong" spirit.

"If he is properly developed and trained, certainly he can make a great contribution," he said.

In answer to a question about how he maintains his optimism for a more autonomous Tibet in the face of life's setbacks, he said that it was helped by the strong spirit among Tibetans and inside Tibet.

"Our cause is a just cause. That is my fundamental belief," he said. "So there are reasons to feel hope and optimism," he said.

And, asked where he dreamt of returning to most in Tibet, he replied his former monastery.

"Sometimes I wish the rest of my life may be spent somewhere in Tibet with clean air, bright sky and hopefully a clean mind. That's my wish."