May 15: Five different agreements are to be signed between Nepal and India to deepen the century-old educational and cultural ties between the two countries.    

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba are expected to sign five Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) on Monday during the Indian prime minister’s Nepal visit on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti festival, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.    

The Indian Educational and Cultural Foundation will sign one MoU each with Lumbini Buddhist University and Tribhuvan University and three MoUs with Kathmandu University.    

Lumbini Buddhist University and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Tribhuvan University Nepal and Center for Asian Studies (CNAS) and ICCR, Kathmandu University and ICCR, the KU and the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai are scheduled to sign two other MoUs.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Indian PM Modi will arrive in Lumbini on May 16 at the invitation of PM Deuba to attend a special ceremony on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti festival.   

“The Prime Minister of India together with the Prime Minister of Nepal will participate in a prayer at the Mayadevi Temple, lay the foundation stone for the construction of a centre for Buddhist culture and heritage at the Monastic Zone in Lumbini, and address the special ceremony to be organized to celebrate Buddha Jayanti at the Lumbini International Buddhist Meditation Center and Assembly Hall,” reads the statement issued by the ministry..

According to the statement, the two prime ministers will hold bilateral talks and exchange views on Nepal-India cooperation and matters of mutual interests. The Prime Minister of Nepal will host a luncheon in honour of the prime minister of India and the visiting delegation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that the upcoming visit of the prime minister of India will contribute to further strengthening the bilateral relations and the age-old socio-cultural bonds between the two countries.

The statement further said this will be the fifth visit of Narendra Modi to Nepal as the prime minister of India. (With inputs from RSS)