India dismisses controversy after Jaishankar's 'Buddha Indian' remark irks Nepal

Nepal on Sunday lodged a protest over a recent remark made by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar describing Gautam Buddha as one of the greatest Indians.

“It is a well-established and undeniable fact proven by historical and archaeological evidence that Gautam Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal,” a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the neighbouring country’s government said in a statement issued in Kathmandu.

India, however, moved fast to douse the controversy with the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi stating that the fact that Gautam Buddha had been born in Lumbini in Nepal had been beyond doubt.

Jaishankar on Saturday said that Gautam Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi were the two “greatest Indians”, who were remembered by people around the world. He made the remark while participating in a webinar held by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The comment by the External Affairs Minister triggered protests from Nepal.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepalese Government pointed out that Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha in Nepal, was a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

He also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech during a visit to Kathmandu in 2014, when he had said that Nepal was the country where the "apostle of peace in the world, Buddha," was born.

"The External Affairs Minister’s remarks yesterday at the CII event referred to our shared Buddhist heritage. There is no doubt that Gautam Buddha was born in Lumbini, which is in Nepal,” Anurag Srivastava, the MEA spokesperson, said in New Delhi.

“It is true that Buddhism spread from Nepal to other parts of the world in the subsequent period. The matter remains beyond doubt and controversy and thus cannot be a subject of debate. The entire international community is aware of this.”

Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli recently triggered a controversy over the birthplace of Lord Ram too. He claimed at least twice that the birthplace of Lord Ram was not Ayodhya in India, but Ayodhyapuri in Nepal.

New Delhi’s relations with Kathmandu had strained after the Oli Government published a new map, claiming 400 sq km of Indian territory as part of Nepal. New Delhi suspects Beijing nudged Kathmandu to ratchet up India-Nepal territorial dispute at a time when the Indian Army is engaged in a stand-off with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along the disputed boundary between the two nations.