Dalai Lama apologises over his comment on 'Indo-Pak' relations

He further said, “Mahatma Gandhi ji was very much willing to give Prime Ministership to Jinnah but Pandit Nehru refused”.

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama. Photo: File

New Delhi: Tibetan Spiritual guru in exile, Dalai Lama has now apologized over his statement on Indo-Pak relation, saying “My statement has created controversy, if I said something wrong, I apologise”.   He further said, “Mahatma Gandhi ji was very much willing to give Prime Ministership to Jinnah but Pandit Nehru refused”. In a statement which spurred a massive controversy, Dalai Lama had said that “India and Pakistan would have remained united had Jinnah become the Prime Minister instead of Jawaharlal Nehru”. He even called Nehru "self-centered”. The remarks came during an interaction at the Goa Institute of Management, where the spiritual leader said, "Look at India, Mahatma Gandhi wanted Prime Ministership to go to Jinnah but Nehru refused to agree. I think Pandit Nehru was a little self-centered." He further said, "If Mahatma Gandhi's wish had materialised then India and Pakistan would have been united." Holding Nehru responsible for the partition, the Dalai Lama said, "I know Pandit Nehru very well, he was a very experienced person, very wise but sometimes mistake also happens." Reacting to the Dalai Lama's comments, BJP senior leader Subramanian Swamy said that the Dalai Lama should have spoken about this before and it did not hold much value now.