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Diplomats from 12 countries participate in the event to open Kushinagar airport
The presence of foreign diplomats at the Kushinagar airport opening comes against the backdrop of China’s efforts to project soft power through public diplomacy focused on Buddhism. The officially atheist Chinese Communist Party hosts the so-called World Buddhist Forum every three years.
NEW DELHI: Senior diplomats and officials from 12 countries with sizeable Buddhist populations, including Sri Lanka and Japan, joined the inauguration of Kushinagar international airport on Wednesday as part of India’s drive to popularise the Buddhist tourism circuit.
Besides Sri Lanka’s sports minister Namal Rajapaksa, ambassadors of Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam and senior diplomats from Mongolia, Nepal, Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Singapore participated in the ceremony led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to open the airport.
The move comes against the backdrop of China’s efforts to project soft power through public diplomacy focused on Buddhism. The officially atheist Chinese Communist Party hosts the so-called World Buddhist Forum every three years. In recent years, China has sought to project that it will have the final say in choosing the next Dalai Lama while contending that India should have no role in the process.
The inaugural international flight at the airport arrived from Sri Lanka with a delegation led by cabinet minister Namal Rajapaksa, the son of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. The delegation included 100 Buddhist monks, four state ministers and senior officials.
“We believe the opening of Kushinagar [airport] will increase the number of travellers from Sri Lanka and also travellers from all over the world,” Rajapaksa said, adding it was an honour that his delegation was on the first flight to land at the airport.
The Sri Lankan monks belong to different sects and prominent temples in more than 20 districts across the country. The only documented relics of Lord Buddha in Sri Lanka, the Piprahwa relics that are kept at Waskaduwa Viharaya in Kalutara, were brought by the delegation. The Kapilvastu relics of India, which have travelled abroad for display only six times in the past, were sent to Sri Lanka in 1978 and 2012.
Buddhism is seen as an important bridge connecting the people of India and Sri Lanka. The advent of Buddhism in Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BC is linked with the arrival of Prince Mahendra and Princess Sanghamitra, the children of Emperor Ashoka.
During a virtual India-Sri Lanka Summit in September 2020, Modi announced an outlay of $15 million to promote Buddhist ties between the two countries.
Kushinagar has an important place on the global Buddhist map because of its rich heritage. Lord Buddha attained “Mahaparirvana” in the city and other important sites such as Sravasti, Kapilvastu and Lumbini are located nearby. These factors attract pilgrims from countries such as Cambodia, Japan, Myanmar and Thailand to Kushinagar. A large number of foreign devotees visited the Mahaparinirvana Temple in the pre-Covid-19 period.
The new airport is expected to pave the way for more flights to Kushinagar from Buddhist countries.
Vietnamese ambassador Pham Sanh Chau and Thai envoy Pattarat Hongtong said the new airport will reduce the distance for travellers from their countries bound for Buddhist sites and also boost tourism.
