Beijing on Tuesday blamed the Dalai Lama for a violent incident in India that saw a Tibetan exile set himself on fire in protest against a trip by Chinese President Hu Jintao to New Delhi this week.

Jamphel Yeshi doused himself in fuel Monday and lit his clothes before running down a street in the Indian capital during a demonstration against perceived repression of Tibetans by the Chinese government.

"Recently, the Dalai group has been sparing no efforts to incite Tibet independence activities and deliberately create various disturbances," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.

"These conducts and deeds clearly show that the Dalai group is single-handedly masterminding relevant self-immolation actions."

Yeshi, 27, ran screaming down the street with his body covered in flames before collapsing on the ground. He was taken to hospital where he is in a critical condition.

The protest was the second attempted self-immolation in New Delhi, where thousands of Tibetan exiles live. Another man suffered minor burns in November when he tried to set himself on fire outside the Chinese embassy.

Tibetan exiles who live in the capital have vowed to protest throughout the week as President Hu is due in the city for a summit on Thursday.

Many Tibetans in China complain of religious repression as well as a gradual erosion of their culture, which they blame on a growing influx of Han Chinese -- the country's dominant ethnic group -- in areas where they live.

These grievances have boiled over since the start of 2011, and at least 29 Tibetans, many of them Buddhist monks and nuns, have set themselves on fire in China to protest against Chinese rule.

But Beijing rejects accusations of political and religious repression of Tibetans and points to rising living standards in these areas.

It accuses the Dalai Lama -- Tibet's spiritual leader who lives in exile in India -- of inciting self-immolations in a bid to split Tibet from the rest of the nation.

"The separatist political aims of achieving Tibet independence at a cost of human life are doomed to failure and will be strongly condemned by the international community," Hong said.

But the Dalai Lama -- a Nobel Peace Prize laureate -- denies he wants independence for Tibet and insists he is only seeking greater autonomy for the region.