New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Nepal on Monday, May 16 to mark the occasion of Budhha Purnima. According to a press release by Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), PM Modi said, “I will be visiting Lumbini, Nepal on 16 May 2022 at the invitation of the Rt Hon’ble Sher Bahadur Deuba, Prime Minister of Nepal.” “I look forward to offering prayers at the Mayadevi Temple on the auspicious occasion of Buddha Jayanti. I am honoured to follow in the footsteps of millions of Indians to pay reverence at the sacred site of Lord Buddha's birth,” he added.
PM Modi also said that he is looking forward to meeting his Nepalese counterpart PM Deuba again after their meeting last month when he visited India.
He said, “We will continue to build on our shared understanding to expand cooperation in multiple areas, including in hydropower, development, and connectivity.”
He then also gave a brief of where he will be visiting on Monday saying that he will participate in the foundation stone laying ceremony of the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture & Heritage in the Lumbini Monastic Zone. He added that he will also attend the celebrations of Budhha Jayanti organised by the Government of Nepal.
PM Modi added in his statement, “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.”
Meanwhile, the preparations to welcome PM Modi to Nepal have begun on a grand scale, news agency ANI reported. Hoardings highlighting Indo-Nepal relations have been put up along PM Modi’s travel route.