Buddhist spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Friday acknowledged that his comments on former Prime Minister Nehru had triggered a controversy and apologised.

“My statement has created controversy, I apologise if I said something wrong,” NDTV quoted the Dalai Lama as saying. “When I heard that Gandhi ji was against the partition, I felt pity... There are more Muslims in India than in Pakistan. But past is past.”

On Wednesday, the Dalai Lama said India and Pakistan would have remained united had Mahatma Gandhi’s wish of seeing Muhammad Ali Jinnah as the first prime minister of India come true. The Buddhist leader had said Jawaharlal Nehru’s “self-centred attitude” was the reason why it did not happen, reported PTI.

The Dalai Lama made the remarks to students at the Goa Institute of Management in Sankhalim, located more than 30 km northeast of the state capital Panaji.