First Asian Buddhist Summit in New Delhi next week
President Droupadi Murmu is expected to grace the event as the Chief Guest.
A car rally commemorating 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary from New Delhi to Myanmar’s former capital Yangon will be flagged off from Rajghat on 4 February.
The rally will pass through 23 cities in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar that are connected with Mahatma Gandhi’s life. Over a period of 21 days, the rally will cover a total distance of 7250 km from New Delhi to Yangon.
Organised by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, the commencement of the rally will also mark the launch of National Road Safety Week.
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In a statement, the Ministry said that the aim of the event is to spread the values of Mahatma Gandhi. Besides spreading the message of the Mahatma, the rally participants will also take up advocacy on road safety.
“It will be a ‘Drive for Peace’ while remembering the great son of India in Bangladesh and Myanmar. It will also promote the message of safe driving on roads,” the Ministry said.
The rally will move south-westwards from New Delhi passing through Ajmer, Sabarmati, Porbandar and Dandi before moving eastwards to Bharuch, Pune, and Wardha. From Wardha, the rally will move northwards towards Lucknow passing through Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
From Lucknow, the rally will move further eastwards towards Kolkata, passing through Gorakhpur, Chauri Chaura, Champaran, and Patna. It will cross the border with Bangladesh at Petrapole in West Bengal to reach Dhaka on 17 February.
Two days later, the car rally will cross the border into India’s Agartala and proceed towards Imphal from where it will cross the Myanmar border at Moreh. Before reaching Yangon, the rally will pass through Mandalay and Kalewa.
Receptions and flagging off ceremonies will be performed in every city through which the rally passes.
Ministries of External Affairs, Culture, etc are supporting the event. The yearlong celebrations to commemorate the 150th year of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth were initiated by Government of India on 2 October 2018.
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