Exiled Tibetan leader Dalai Lama said on Wednesday that partition would have been averted had Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah become the first prime minister of India, reported Hindustan Times.

The Dalai Lama made the comments while speaking at a Goa educational institute. He made the remarks while responding to a student’s query on taking right decisions.

“Now look at India. I think Mahatma Gandhi was very much willing to give the prime ministership to Jinnah. But Pandit Nehru refused,” he said.

The exiled Tibetan leader went on to add how he thought it was a bit self-centered on part of Jawaharlal Nehru to covet the top post.

“I think it was a little bit self-centred attitude of Pandit Nehru that he should be the prime minister. India and Pakistan would have remained united had Mahatma Gandhi’s thinking materialised,” he said, adding, “Pandit Nehru, I know very well, (was a) very experienced person, very wise but sometimes mistakes also happen.”

Earlier in May, Uttar Pradesh Minister Swami Prasad Maurya eulogised Jinnah as a “mahapurush” or great man. The minister made the remarks while admonishing a Bharatiya Janata Party MP for criticising Aligarh Muslim University for displaying a photo of Jinnah at the varsity. “It is shameful for anyone to point a finger on great leaders who contributed towards the country’s formation,” he had then said.