Pranab Mukherjee to plant Bodhi tree sapling in Hanoi

HANOI: Saplings of the holy Bodhi Tree appear to have taken root as the centrepiece of India’s Look East Policy, with President Pranab Mukherjee carrying forward on his visit to Vietnam the gesture initiated by the previous UPA government and arriving in Hanoi on Sunday with the sapling that he will plant along with his counterpart, Truong Tan Sang, in the presidential palace on Monday.

The visit, which comes just before Chinese President comes calling to India, aims to send out a strategic message as India is set to ink another agreement with Vietnam for oil exploration in the South China Sea.Thailand was the first country to get a sapling of the holy Bodhi Tree from then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit last year.

This March, South Korea got the same gift after Manmohan promised it to South Korean President Park Geun-hye when she had visited India in January. The NDA government has chosen to continue with this idea of its predecessor to forge an emotional connect with countries which have a great reverence for Buddhism.