NEW DELHI — The president of the Tibetan government-in-exile on Thursday defended the Dalai Lama over a viral video clip of him asking a child to suck his tongue, saying he has been misinterpreted.

Penpa Tsering said at the New Delhi branch of the Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia that the spiritual leader's compassion and love are beyond all the misunderstandings that the video has created.

The negative reaction to the video "really hurts us," Tsering said. "We are hurt by the insinuations."

The clip was shot at a public event that took place in February this year at the Tibetan temple in the hilly region of Dharamsala, the home of the spiritual leader living in exile.

In the video, a young boy who was attending the event asks the Dalai Lama if he can hug the spiritual leader. The Dalai Lama invites the boy to come on stage and later hugs him, before asking the boy to kiss him on his cheek and then his lips. He then makes a "jovial prank about the tongue" which was later criticized on social media, Tsering said.

The boy seen in the video said in an interview with local Tibetan media it was a great experience to meet someone with "high positive energy."

• Dalai Lama apologizes for asking boy to suck his tongue

==Kyodo

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