During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit next week, the Nepal government will inaugurate its largest convention centre in Lumbini, which will have a capacity of 5,000 people, officials said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Nepal on May 16 for a brief visit to Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, on the occasion of Buddha Purnima - Lord Buddha's birth anniversary.
Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is scheduled to inaugurate the convention centre in Lumbini, a World Heritage site in the presence of his Indian counterpart, officials said. The convention-cum-meditation centre has been constructed under the national project of Lumbini Development Master Plan.
Modi is visiting the Himalayan nation at the invitation of his Deuba. It will be Modi's first visit to Nepal after his re-election in 2019. Deuba was in Delhi last month in his first bilateral visit abroad after becoming prime minister for the fifth time in July 2021.
During the visit, which was aimed at injecting fresh momentum to bilateral ties, Deuba held talks with Modi on a number of key issues, including the boundary issue. Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and the leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old "Roti-Beti" relationship.
The landlocked Himalayan nation shares a border of over 1,850 kms with five Indian states - Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Nepal relies heavily on India for the transportation of goods and services.