Highlights:
• PM Modi will meet PM Deuba at the historic Lumbini site and give a strong push to bilateral relations
• Improving relations with Nepal has always been a top priority for the Indian Prime Minister
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reach out to Nepal again 16th may when he lands in Lumbini, the birthplace of Prince Siddharth, who became Buddha after enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, in a renewed effort to strengthen bilateral ties. PM Modi will lay the foundation stone for a Buddhist Vihara with Indian assistance alongside Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.
Overview
On the auspicious thrice-blessed Budh Purnima Day on May 16, PM Modi will take a helicopter ride from Kushinagar International Airport in Uttar Pradesh to connect the place where Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana with the place where Prince Siddharth was born. This is the day Lord Buddha was born, when he attained enlightenment, and when he attained nirvana.
PM Modi, a firm believer in displaying and reviving Lord Buddha’s life and preaching, has had all priceless relics of the great preacher in India tabulated by his own office and has directed the restoration of all monuments associated with the Lord’s life.
Buddha preached his first sermon in Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, and attained nirvana in Kushinagar.While PM Modi will fly directly to Lumbini, PM Deuba will meet him after inaugurating Nepal’s second international airport at Bhairahawa, six kilometres from Lumbini, and named after Gautam Buddha by the Chinese Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group.
While PM Modi visited Hindu shared heritage sites such as Janakpur Sita Temple and Muktinath Vishnu Temple in Mustang District, Nepal, during his first tenure, the May 16 visit will be his first since he was re-elected in May 2019 and will complete his eighth year as Indian Prime Minister later this month.
PM Modi will meet PM Deuba at the historic Lumbini site to give a strong push to the bilateral relationship, as improving relations with Nepal has always been a top priority for the Indian Prime Minister.
While Nepalese Maoists and Communists, as well as the leftist media, have attempted to play India by reaching out to China, Prime Minister Modi has a positive development agenda with Nepal as part of India’s Neighborhood First policy, so long as Nepalese plans do not pose a threat to India’s national security, particularly in the Terai region.
PM Modi’s visit to Nepal comes at a time when Sri Lanka is on the verge of civil war, triggered by a deep economic crisis caused by high external debt and economically unviable Belt Road Initiative infrastructure projects funded by China.
The unexpected downturn in Sri Lanka serves as a stark reminder to countries such as Nepal and Pakistan, which are part of the Chinese BRI, though Deuba has made it clear to Beijing that Kathmandu will only accept aid, not commercial loans, for infrastructure projects.
