Dalai Lama says he will have a successor after death, ending years of speculation that he could be the last to hold the position

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, said on Wednesday that the Buddhist institution will continue after his death.

"I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue," he said in a video broadcast from the mountainous town of Dharamshala, India.

He was speaking at the start of a meeting of religious leaders in the Himalayan town where he has lived for decades.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. Since then, he has lived in India where the Tibetan government-in-exile was also established. 

This is a developing story and will be updated.