India, Nepal to sign five MoUs during PM Modi's Lumbini visit

Kathmandu: India and Nepal will be signing five Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Lumbini on Monday.

"In presence of prime ministers of two countries, five MoU's will be signed which will deepen the century-old educational and cultural ties," according to a source inside Nepal's 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 on Monday.

The Kathmandu Universit and the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai will also sign two other MoUs, the source said. The Prime Minister is scheduled to arrive in Lumbini at 10:40 am (NST) on an Indian Air Force helicopter on Monday.

He will reach Lumbini on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti to hold bilateral talks with Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Sher Bahadur Deuba, his spouse Arzu Rana Deuba, members in the Council of Ministers, Lumbini Province Chief Minister Kul Prasad KC, and Charge d' affaires Namgya C. Khampa of Indian Embassy in Kathmandu will welcome Prime Minister Modi at a helipad built near the Lumbini International Buddhist Meditation Center and Assembly Hall.

Upon arrival, he will pray at Mayadevi temple at 11 am and participate in Bhumi Pooja at 11:30. After that, he will hold meetings with PM Deuba and Foreign Minister Dr. Narayan Khadka from 12:20 to 12:40 pm. He will also interact with various delegations afterward.

At 1:30, Deuba will host lunch for Prime Minister Modi. The lunch will be followed by PM Modi's meeting with eminent personalities and dignitaries of Nepal.

PM Modi is scheduled to take part in Buddha Jayanti celebrations from 3:30 pm onwards and is scheduled to fly back to Delhi at around 5 pm.

His entourage will include National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, few joint-secretaries and others.

Earlier in 2014, Prime Minister Modi visited Nepal twice on different occasions and twice in 2018. Visit to Lumbini always had remained on the schedule of PM Modi but was cancelled eventually due to various reasons.

During the last visit to Nepal in May of 2018, PM Modi had toured Janakpur and Muktinath, one of the revered religious as well as cultural sites of Nepal.