PM Modi to visit Lumbini in Nepal on May 16

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay an official visit to Lumbini in Nepal on May 16 on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday. Modi is visiting the neighbouring country at the invitation of Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

It will be Prime Minister Modi's fifth visit to Nepal since 2014.

"At Lumbini, the prime minister will visit the sacred Mayadevi temple to offer prayers. The prime minister will also deliver an address at a Buddha Jayanti event organised by the Lumbini Development Trust under the aegis of the Government of Nepal," the MEA said.


Separately, the prime minister will participate in the "shilanyas" (foundation stone laying) ceremony 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, it said.

Both the prime ministers will hold a bilateral meeting.

"Prime Minister Modi's visit continues the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between India and Nepal in furtherance of our Neighbourhood First policy," the MEA said.

"It underscores the shared civilisational heritage of the people of both countries," it said in a statement.