India rejects Nepal’s stand on Buddha row

nNEW DELHI: India on Sunday dismissed a controversy over birthplace of Gautam Buddha and said a comment by external affairs minister S Jaishankar on the shared Buddhist heritage of the two neighbours was misunderstood in the Himalayan country.

The clarification came a day after Jaishankar referred to the teachings of Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries. The remark triggered controversy in Nepal with political parties saying that Buddha, who founded Buddhism, was born in Nepal and not India.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said Jaishankar’s remark referred to the common Buddhist heritage of India and Nepal. “There is no doubt that Gautam Buddha was born in Lumbini, which is in Nepal,” he said.

The Indian side said at the time of the Buddha, who lived in the 5th and 4th century BC, there was no separate nation state called Nepal, and that Siddhartha Gautama became Buddha after attaining enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, which is in modern day Bihar.

Earlier in the day, Nepal’s foreign ministry said that historical evidence showed Buddha was born in Nepalese territory. “It is a well-established and undeniable fact proven by historical evidences that Gautam Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal. Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha..., is a UNESCO world heritage site,” a statement by the ministry’s spokesperson read.

The controversy came against the backdrop of a border row that erupted earlier this year when India opened a new road leading to Lipulekh on the border with Tibet. Nepal responded by publishing a new political map that included Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, which are controlled by India, as part of Nepalese territory.