He spoke after the Hindu Council's general secretary, Ashok Singhal, had said, "Buddhism, Hinduism and other non-aggressive religions have to unite to douse Islam ... an aggressive religion."

HH Dalai Lama was speaking after this comment was made. It seems to me he is suggesting that this is not such a constructive attitude to take. Taken in context, this makes the statement much less inflammatory and not quite as controversial as CNN would like to make out.

In Tibetan Buddhist doctrine, it's considered bad form to try to convert people from their current religion - they have a right to be left alone and not vilifield because they're not Buddhists.

HH Dalai Lama is an incarnation of an aspect of Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion. His motivation for speaking out on issues such as nuclear weapons and the activities of some Buddhist groups is to stem the tide of suffering and help all people of all religions a peaceful life.