Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lumbini, Nepal, though only for a few hours, is full of symbolism and substance. No Indian Prime Minister has visited Lumbini in the last few decades. Mr. Modi’s visit is a combination of personal desire and political and strategic goals. For him, it is the fulfilment of a wish articulated in 2014 when he first became Prime Minister. Since he could not travel to Lumbini during his previous visits to Nepal, as Ambassador, I planted, on his behalf, a sapling of the sacred Bodhi tree in the gardens of the Maya Devi temple where Gautama Buddha was born.
Amid the strife and turmoil and the anger and hatred that we see in society, the Prime Minister’s visit also provides a moment for quiet reflection and a reiteration of the message of peace, compassion and non-violence preached by the Buddha and spread by the roaring lions in the four directions, as depicted in the Lion Capital of Ashoka, our national emblem — a message that calls for shunning extremes in ideology and thought and following the middle path forged through tolerance, dialogue and debate, and reconciliation and consensus.
