The controversy surrounding Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s remarks on the birthplace of Lord Ram continues to draw the attention of Indian politicians.

Expressing concern over Oli’s statement, Karan Singh, a senior Indian National Congress leader, has said that the bizarre claim by Oli that Sri Ram was in fact born in a village in Nepal and that Indian’s Ayodhya was only an artificial concept is “indeed mind-boggling”.

Prime Minister Oli made a sensational remark on Monday claiming that Lord Ram was born in Nepal and accused India of creating an artificial Ayodhya by manipulating the cultural and historical facts.

Oli's statement was widely condemned in Nepal and India and political leaders and experts expressed worries that such brazen statements would further complicate Nepal’s ties with India that are already strained due to the boundary dispute.

“This outrageous statement will have hurt the sentiments of a billion Hindus living not only in India and Nepal but around the world. The statement could have been dismissed as the gymnastics of a distorted mind, except that it comes fast on the heels of Oli’s unfortunate unilateral action regarding a territorial dispute with India.”

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a clarification in a damage control exercise before the remarks could worsen the already frayed Nepal-India relations.

“It would appear that he [Oli] is trying to do whatever he can, even going to the extent of an absurd statement regarding Ayodhya and Sri Ram, to widen the distance between India and Nepal,” said Singh, who visited Nepal in 2006 as a special envoy of Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh during the second people’s uprising in Nepal. Singh then held talks with the troubled king Gyanendra Shah and the leaders of the then agitating Seven Party Alliance.

“Right thinking people in both countries should be aware of this ominous policy and do whatever is possible to recreate the friendly age-old ties between our two countries,” Singh said.