Despite his claim that he did not meet any Tibetan leader during his recent visit to Goa, India, former PM and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba was pictured along with Lobsang Sangay, the Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government in Exile, who is known as Sikyong.

A photo which appeared on social media on Thursday purportedly showed Deuba sitting close to Sangay along with BJP President Amit Shah and others.

On his return from India on Wednesday, Deuba had denied having met any Tibetan leader in Goa. He also reaffirmed his party’s commitment to One-China Policy. A statement posted in the Central Tibetan Administration, the official website of the Tibetan government in exile, said that Sangay was a speaker at the conference on democracy.

The conclave was inaugurated with a video message from the Dalai Lama, and speeches by Swami Tejomayananda, global head of the Chinmaya Mission; Deuba; Suresh Prabhu, the Indian union minister for railways, and BJP chief Shah, said the statement. Sources close to Deuba dismissed suggestions that the NC chief had met the Tibetan leaders. Some NC leaders have taken exception to his participation in the event. He should have studied about the programme before attending it, said NC leader Shekhar Koirala.

Former foreign minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha said Deuba, a three-time prime minister, should have heeded the sensitivities of China. “Such attempts erode our diplomatic and political credibility,” he said.