This story is from May 12, 2018

PM Narendra Modi plays Ramayana card to lift Nepal ties

PM Narendra Modi plays Ramayana card to lift Nepal ties
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Janaki Mandir in Janakpur, Nepal, on Friday. (PTI photo)
JANAKPUR: Connectivity and faith came together in some high voltage neighbourhood diplomacy on Friday as PM Narendra Modi and his Nepal counterpart KP Oli drew a tourism circuit with Ramayana as the dominant theme. The two leaders inaugurated a bus service between Janakpur, considered in Hindu mythology as Goddess Sita's 'maika' (parent's place), and her 'sasural' (inlaws' place), Ayodhya.

The Ramayana theme played well with Modi's own politics. "Without Nepal, India's faith is incomplete. Without Nepal, India's history is incomplete. Without Nepal, India's dhams (temples) are incomplete. Without Nepal, our Ram is incomplete," Modi said while inaugurating the Janakpur-Ayodhya bus service, emphasising the mythological connect between the two countries. He added the Janakpur-Ayodhya circuit would strengthen connectivity between the two nations apart from promoting religious tourism.
Modi's two-day visit to Nepal this time - his third as PM - touched strong points of faith as he offered prayers at Janaki temple, Pashupatinath and Muktinath. A subterranean message to the communist leadership at the helm of Nepal's affairs was that despite their avowed affinity for communist Beijing, the people of Nepal based their faith on common gods with India. It was a powerful message which did not need to be articulated but was clear when Oli watched Modi pray, but refrained from joining in.
At a civic reception here, Modi quoted a verse from 'Ramcharitmanas' on helping a friend in the time of suffering to emphasise the ties between the two nations. "Whenever there has been a problem, India and Nepal have stood together. We have been there for each other in the most difficult of times," the PM said, stressing Nepal's top position in India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy.
Modi, who became the first Indian PM to perform 16-step puja at Goddess Sita's Janaki temple here, also announced Rs 100 crore package to develop Janakpur. To a loud applause, he said he had come to Janakpur not as a PM, but a pilgrim. He said the ties between the two countries dated back to the Treta Yug during King Janak's rule. "And the bondage built by Sita... is still strong. It is this bondage which attracts people from Rameswaram to Pashupatinath, people from Lumbini to Bodhgaya and I was also attracted with the same bondage," he said.
Modi and Oli inaugurated the 900 MW Arun III project, while pushing the systems on both sides to complete a rail link between Raxaul and Kathmandu. India is pouring Rs 6000 crore for the Arun III project.
Later, Modi and Oli held a one-to-one talk in Kathmandu discussing the entire gamut of India-Nepal relations. Oli said at a joint press briefing that the discussions were held in an open manner and it was very fruitful. Extending India's full support to build Nepal as a powerful country, Modi said, "We discussed all the aspects of partnership between Nepal and India, and assured that India will help Nepal in making the landlocked country land linked as per the vision of the PM of Nepal."
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