HIGHLIGHTS
PM Modi is visiting Nepal on Monday
He will offer prayers at Maya Devi Temple in Lumbini on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti
PM Modi and Nepal PM Deuba will hold discussions on expanding cooperation
On the occasion of Buddha Jayanti, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Nepal on Monday, at the invitation of his counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba.
Ahead of his trip to Lumbini, PM Modi said in a statement that his visit was intended to “celebrate and further deepen the time-honoured linkages” between India and Nepal.
He said, “Our ties with Nepal are unparalleled. The civilisational and people-to-people contacts between India and Nepal form the enduring edifice of our close relationship. My visit is intended to celebrate and further deepen these time-honoured linkages that have been fostered through centuries and recorded in our long history of inter-mingling.”
AGENDA
PM Modi will offer prayers at the Maya Devi Temple on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti. He will be accompanied by Nepal PM Deuba. The Maya Devi temple is the main site of worship in Lumbini, which is traditionally considered the birthplace of Gautama Buddha. PM Modi will light a butter lamp in front of the Ashoka Pillar and water the Bodhi tree gifted by him during his 2014 visit to Nepal.
PM Modi will hold discussions with Nepal PM Deuba on expanding cooperation in areas such as hydropower, development and connectivity. After the bilateral meeting, some memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on cooperation in cultural and educational sectors are expected to be exchanged between the two countries.
Nepal PM Deuba will host a lunch for PM Modi and his delegation.
PM Modi will lay the foundation stone of the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture & Heritage in the Lumbini Monastic Zone.
Additionally, he will attend Buddha Jayanti celebrations organised by the Government of Nepal. He will address a large gathering of people from Nepal and India, including Buddhist scholars and monks.
5TH VISIT SINCE 2014
This will be Narendra Modi's fifth visit to Nepal since 2014 when he was elected as Prime Minister of India. It will be PM Modi's first visit to Nepal after his re-election in 2019.
There have been regular exchanges of high-level visits and official interactions between India and Nepal in recent years.
Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba paid a state visit to India in August 2017 and again in April 2022. In his statement on Sunday, PM Modi wrote, “I look forward to meeting Prime Minister Deuba again after our productive discussions during his visit to India last month.”
