NEW DELHI, April 7 (Reuters) - China should give Tibetans responsibility for all their administrative affairs except foreign relations and defence, the Dalai Lama said.

Opposition to Beijing's control over the Himalayan region would not vanish with his death, the exiled 71-year-old spiritual leader said in an interview with an Indian TV news channel, and it did not matter if he never got to return home.

"As long as the Tibetan people remain, this issue, unless you solve it properly, realistically, will remain," he said.

The Dalai Lama said there was growing frustration among Tibetans, particularly the youth in and outside Tibet, while the stalemate over their homeland continued.

China and the Dalai Lama's envoys have been engaged in a slow-motion dialogue since 2002 which analysts say is partly driven by the fear that if the spiritual leader dies in exile, it could lead to trouble in Tibet.

Visitors to Tibet, including many Chinese, felt "Tibet is actually ruled by terror", the Dalai Lama said in the interview with CNN-IBN, which is due to be broadcast on Sunday.

"At present, on paper there's autonomy but in reality every key position is occupied by Chinese who have no idea of past events, of Tibetan culture or Tibetan habits or mentality," a statement from the channel quoted him as saying.

"The Tibetans should have the final authority, except foreign affairs and defence."

The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Communist rule, nine years after the Chinese army marched into Tibet.

He says he has accepted Chinese sovereignty over Tibet but wants greater autonomy, not independence, for his predominantly Buddhist homeland. Beijing considers him a separatist and accuses him of continuing to promote Tibetan independence.

In the interview, the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner said he was an optimist and hoped to see Tibet again.

Asked if he would die an unhappy man if he didn't, he replied: "No problem at all. I am a Buddhist monk. I am over 71 years old. These seven decades I have trained my mind according to Buddha's teachings. It doesn't matter."

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