New Delhi:India on Sunday dismissed the controversy over the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, saying External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's remarks on him was about “our shared Buddhist heritage" and there's "no doubt" that the founder of Buddhism was born in Nepal's Lumbini.
During a webinar on Saturday, Jaishankar mentioned about India's moral leadership and how Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi's teachings are still relevant. However, reports suggest that the Nepalese media attributed remarks to him as saying that Buddha was an Indian.
In a couple of hours, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava issued a statement to put a lid on the controversy.
"There is no doubt that Gautam Buddha was born in Lumbini, which is in Nepal," Srivastava said, while referring to Jaishankar's remarks at an event referred to "our shared Buddhist heritage" in New Delhi on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, Nepalese Foreign Ministry raised objection over Jaishankar’s remark quoted in the Nepalese media, saying “it is a well-established and undeniable fact proven by historical evidence that Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal."
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The official spokesperson of the Nepal Foreign Ministry said that Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha and the fountain of Buddhism, is one of the UNESCO world heritage sites.