Lumbini, May 16
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that India and Nepal’s ever-strengthening friendship and their closeness will benefit the entire humanity in the emerging global situation as he likened the ties between the two neighbours as unshakeable like the Himalayas.
Modi, who visited the Himalayan nation at the invitation of his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba on a day-long visit to Lumbini on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, made the remarks while addressing the International Buddhist Conference here.
“India and Nepal’s ever-strengthening friendship and our closeness will benefit the entire humanity in the kind of global conditions that are emerging,” Modi said in his 20-minute special address.
Prime Minister Modi, who attended the 2566th Buddha Jayanti Celebration at International Convention Center and Meditation Hall at Lumbini, was accompanied by his Nepalese counterpart Deuba and his spouse Dr Arzu Rana Deuba. Several Nepalese ministers were among the other dignitaries present.
Modi said that India and Nepal relations are unshakeable like the Himalayas and added that both the countries will work towards solving global problems with Buddha’s ideologies. “Buddha is the embodiment of the collective understanding of humanity,” Modi told the gathering of some 2,500 people that included monks, Buddhist scholars and international participants in Lumbini.
