Varanasi, Jan. 14 : Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has said that a moral crisis in the world is to blame for the global economic woes.

Selfishness and a lack of spirituality and culture in the world were key causes for the current crisis in the world''s financial markets, he told Buddhist students in Varanasi.

The 73-year-old Nobel peace prize winner said people had forgotten how their own fortunes and those of others were connected.

"People have become selfish and materialistic, which has led to the economic slowdown," said the Dalai Lama at a gathering of 20,000 students at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies.

He said the solution was in recognising our interdependence, valuing education and protecting the natural environment.

He said that people needed to be less interested in consumerism, less selfish and to understand that if we want to survive and be happy, everyone must survive together.
(ANI)