Staff Reporter
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay an official visit to Lumbini in Nepal on Monday on the occasion of Buddha Purnima. He is visiting the Himalayan nation at the invitation of his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba. This will be the Prime Minister’s fifth visit to Nepal since 2014 and his first visit to Lumbini.
Giving details about the visit of Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said in New Delhi that the visit reaffirms India’s commitment and demonstrates the priority it attaches to the neighbourhood. He said, at Lumbini, the Prime Minister will visit the sacred Mayadevi temple to offer prayers. He will also deliver an address at a Buddha Jayanti event organized by the Lumbini Development Trust.
During his visit, Mr Modi will also participate in the ‘Shilanyas’ ceremony for the construction of a Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage, in a plot belonging to the International Buddhist Confederation, New Delhi within the Lumbini Monastic Zone. Both the Prime Ministers will hold a bilateral meeting.
Prime Minister Modi’s visit continues the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between India and Nepal in furtherance of India’s Neighbourhood First Policy. It underscores the shared civilizational heritage of the people of both countries.