Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay an official visit to Lumbini on 16 May on the occasion of ‘Buddha Purnima’ at the invitation of Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

This will be PM’s fifth visit to Nepal since 2014. At Lumbini, he will visit the sacred Mayadevi temple to offer prayers.

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Modi will also deliver an address at a Buddha Jayanti event organised by the Lumbini Development Trust under the aegis of the Government of Nepal.

Separately, he will 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 (IBC), New Delhi within the Lumbini Monastic Zone. The two PMs will also hold a bilateral meeting.

“Modi’s visit continues the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between India and Nepal in furtherance of our Neighbourhood First policy. It underscores the shared civilisational heritage of the people of both countries,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said today.