A day after a video of Dalai Lama kissing a minor boy on his lips stirred controversy, the Tibetan spiritual leader issued an apology to the boy and his family on Monday.

The official statement read, “A video clip has been circulating that shows a recent meeting when a young boy asked His Holiness the Dalai Lama if he could give him a hug. His Holiness wishes to apologise to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused. His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras. He regrets the incident.”

In the video that went viral on social media platforms on Sunday, Dalai Lama could be seen kissing the lips of a boy who approached to hug him. During the incident, the Buddhist monk extended his tongue and requested the boy to “suck it". The Dalai Lama can be heard asking, “Can you suck my tongue?" in the viral footage.

The video clip was shared on Twitter by a user captioned with, “Pedo-Dalai Lama kissed an Indian boy at a Buddhist event and even tried to touch his tongue, the boy then resisted. What a disgusting scene. In the video published on the ‘official’ networks, the scene was obviously cut… as if by magic!”

The twitter post garnered a huge mixed reaction among the netizens. The incident triggered anger among some followers. However, sympathisers of the elderly Buddhist monk claimed he was "joking around" with the boy.