Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Lumbini on May 16 to celebrate the 2566th Buddha Jayanti.

This will be Modi’s fifth Nepal visit since he was elected Prime Minister of India in 2014. But this will be the first instance he is returning back without reaching Kathmandu – the capital city of Nepal.

Foreign ministry officials informed that Modi, this time, is scheduled to travel only six kilometers into Nepal from his country’s border and return back.

Modi is visiting the birthplace of Buddha to attend the 2566th Buddha Jayanti functions at the invitation of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. Lumbini Buddhist University is scheduled to confer an Honorary PhD on Modi during the visit.

This will be Modi’s first Nepal visit in his second term as the Prime Minister of India. He had visited Nepal four times in his first term.

Not visiting Nepal since assuming power for the second time, and not traveling to Kathmandu could be Modi’s unnatural diplomacy, say knowledgeable sources.

Modi plans to attend events in Buddha’s birthplace, deliver his speech, and return back. Minister for Foreign Affairs and other cabinet ministers will reach Lumbini to welcome Modi. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will also be there. Modi’s past four visits – two bilateral visits and two to attend SAARC and BIMSTEC summits – were full of religious engagements.

The forthcoming visit will be fully religious though. He will offer worship at the Mayadevi Temple and lay the foundation stone for the monastery that the Indian government is building in Lumbini.

Modi will land at Kushinagar airport and come to Lumini on board a chopper. He won’t reach the newly-built Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA). India has been refusing to open key air routes for the airport built by a Chinese construction company.

He is using a chopper to land in Lumbini because India has been refusing to open the air routes for the newly-built airport. Coincidentally, the airport is handling its first commercial flight on the day Modi visits Lumbini.

Jazeera Airways of Kuwait will operate the first commercial flight to GBIA, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). Officials of CAAN say Nepal would benefit immensely if India agrees to open the key air route.

Most of the aircraft exiting Nepal use the Kathmandu-Mahendranagar-Delhi air route codenamed L626. Aircraft heading to New Delhi and Gulf countries use the route. Nepal has been asking India to make the route bi-directional.

“The route won’t create any problem for India. It’s difficult to know why it is refusing,” a foreign ministry official told Himal Press.

Earlier, Modi had promised to ease the difficulty related to the air route. Though the two sides have sat for dialogues repeatedly, it hasn’t made much headway.

During discussions in 2018, India had agreed to make the route bidirectional. But in October it back-tracked on the agreement.

Another foreign ministry official said Modi’s strategy of using helicopters to land in Lumbini on the day the newly-built airport commences its commercial operation is not normal.

A highly-placed source at the foreign ministry said Modi rejected Prime Minister Deuba’s request to visit Kathmandu, albeit for a brief visit, citing a busy schedule.

“Prime Minister Modi will visit Lumbini, and return back from there itself,” Indian Embassy Spokesperson Naveen Kumar said. “He has no plans to come to Kathmandu.”

The government has built helipads in Lumbini to facilitate Modi’s visit. Indian security personnel have already arrived in Lumbini to take stock of the situation. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lumbini Area Development Trust, and the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu are making needful preparations in Lumbini for the visit.

Deuba and Modi are scheduled to address the main event of the Buddha Jayanti celebrations at the International Buddhist Conference Hall.

According to a foreign ministry official, Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Khadka will pay a courtesy call on Modi. Deuba and Modi are scheduled to hold bilateral talks after that. But it has not been finalized yet. If bilateral talks are not held, this will end up as a purely religious visit.

This is the first time that an Indian Prime Minister is visiting Lumbini. The visit is happening on the back of a series of unfruitful discussions between the two sides on the ‘Buddhist Circuit’.

-By himalpress