"Buddha As Political Tool"

The apt summary from political Buddhist NellaLou, who shared on Facebook this article from Al Jazeera:

As part of their growing competition for influence in Asia, China and India are using the Buddha as weapon: sponsoring conferences, financing religious sites, and displaying relics in countries where the religion is widely adhered to.

Read the rest of the piece here.  The above photo, from Reuters, shows the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar, where "India donated a five-metre statue of the Buddha."