Varanasi:
Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav was on Tuesday conferred with an honorary doctorate by the Benaras Hindu University at a special convocation in Varanasi.
The convocation was organised on the occasion of the closing ceremony of the year-long celebration of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya's 150th birth anniversary.
In his address, Yadav thanked the University for conferring the honour on him and said Varanasi has been a key link and source of cultural bonding between the two neighbouring countries.
"I thank Banaras Hindu University and India for this great honour," Yadav said.
Addressing the gathering, President Pranab Mukherjee said, "It is a happy moment for all of us that we are commemorating this event by conferring the highest degree of the University on the Hon'ble President of Nepal, a country with which India has deep cultural affinity and historical ties."
The convocation was also attended by Union Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Union Minister of State for Finance Namo Narayan Meena, UP Governor B L Joshi and Chancellor of the university Karan Singh.