The Dalai Lama has apologised for kissing a boy on the lips and asking him to suck his tongue at an event in India.

The Tibetan spiritual leader, 87, was accused of inappropriate behaviour after footage emerged from an event on February 28 where he addresses a group of students at the Tsuglagkhang temple in Dharamshala, northern India.
In the clip, a young boy can be seen approaching a microphone and asking the Dalai Lama: “Can I hug you?”

He invites the boy on stage and kisses him on the lips. “And suck my tongue,” the Dalai Lama then says, sticking out his tongue, forehead to forehead with the student.

The audience burst into laugher as the boy quickly stuck out his own tongue and went to move away while the Dalai Lama chuckled and pulled him in for another hug.

The Dalai Lama faced a huge backlash online after the clip went viral, with many calling his behaviour “inappropriate” and “disgusting”.

His office have put out a statement following the outcy in which they apologise to the boy and his family “for the hurt his words may have caused”.

They added: “His holiness wishes to apologise to the boy and his family as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused.

“His holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras. He regrets the incident.”