PM Modi offered prayers at Maya Devi temple, birthplace of Gautam Buddha
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reached Nepal for a day's visit. This is his first visit to the country since ties were affected due to a border dispute in 2020.
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Relations between the two countries were strained after Nepal's previous K P Oli-led government issued a new political map in which it claimed disputed areas in the Kalapani region as its own.
The ties were put back on track last month when Nepal's current Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba visited India. During his trip, the two Prime Ministers agreed to resolve the row through the mechanism already in place.
The Prime Minister received a warm welcome after landing in Lumbini. Prime Minister Deuba, his wife Arzu Deuba and several Nepal ministers received him.
The Prime Ministers then offered prayers at Maya Devi temple on the occasion of Buddha Purnima. The temple is considered to be the birthplace of Buddha.
The Prime Ministers lit lamps near the Ashoka Pillar located next to the temple. Then they watered the Bodhi tree sapling from Bodh Gaya gifted by Prime Minister Modi in 2014.
Sharing a photograph of the two Prime Ministers at the Maya Devi temple, the Prime Minister's Office tweeted, "A timeless bond of friendship..."
This is the Prime Minister's fifth visit to Nepal since 2014. During the visit, he delivered an address at Buddha Jayanti celebrations organised by Lumbini Development Trust.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for a centre for Buddhist culture and heritage within the Lumbini Monastic Zone.
The Prime Ministers held bilateral talks during which they discussed ways to strengthen cooperation and develop new areas of partnership. Ahead of his visit, Prime Minister Modi had said he looks forward to meeting Prime Minister Deuba to continue to expand cooperation in multiple areas, including in hydropower and connectivity.
"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," the Prime Minister said.
