Tibetans in India on Sunday waved the flag of their homeland in protests marking 65 years since a failed uprising was crushed by China, driving the Dalai Lama and thousands of compatriots to flee.

Leaders warned of an "existential threat" to the decades-long struggle by Tibetans in exile to win greater autonomy for a homeland many have never seen.

On Sunday, hundreds of Tibetans gathered in the northern Indian hill-town of Dharamsala, the adopted home of the Dalai Lama since he fled Tibet days after the March 10, 1959 uprising.

"The commemoration today is not just a way to amplify the voices of Tibetans to the international community but a time for all Tibetans to reflect," said Lhagyari Namgyal Dolkar, 37, a member of parliament in the Tibetan government in exile, which is based in India.

The Dalai Lama was just 23 when he escaped the Tibetan capital Lhasa in fear for his life after Chinese soldiers eviscerated the uprising, crossing across the snowy Himalayas into India.

The Buddhist spiritual leader has never returned.

The Dalai Lama, now aged 88, stepped down as his people's political head in 2011, passing the baton of secular power to a government chosen democratically by some 130,000 Tibetans across the world.

Penpa Tsering, the sikyong or head of that government, said Sunday that they do not seek full independence for Tibet, but rather pursue a long-standing "Middle Way" policy seeking greater autonomy and "to resolve the Sino-Tibet conflict through dialogue". 

 'Existential threat' 

 Many exiled Tibetans fear Beijing will name a rival successor to the Dalai Lama, bolstering control over a land it poured troops into in 1950.

Tibet has alternated over the centuries between independence and control by China, which says it "peacefully liberated" the rugged plateau and brought infrastructure and education.

China says Tibet is an integral part of the country.

India has hosted the exiled Tibetan leadership for decades and is itself a regional rival of China. Tensions between the world's two most populous countries flared after a deadly Himalayan border clash in 2020.

Tsering offered thanks to supporters, including the governments of India and the United States, who are "committed to truth and freedom", he said in a speech.

"As the Tibetan identity is facing an existential threat, you are our backbone and source of inner strength to keep our struggle for freedom alive," he said.

Tibetan Buddhists believe the Dalai Lama is the 14th reincarnation of the leader of an institution dating back six centuries, chosen by monks according to ancient Buddhist traditions.