Dignitaries and journalists from five countries are arriving on a visit to Bihar on Wednesday to visit various Buddhist sites in the state.
The team, comprising ministers, bureaucrats and mediapersons from Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, is arriving in Patna at the invitation of the external affairs ministry.
It will leave for Varanasi from Bodhgaya on September 9 to visit Buddhist sites in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar's Principal Secretary (tourism and culture) Anjani Kumar Singh told reporters here.
The team, during its five-day stay in Bihar, will visit Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Nalanda and Vaishali as well as Buddhist sites in Patna.
The Buddhist Promotion Mission -- Mekong Ganga Cooperation -- has been named after two major rivers, Singh said.
The Mekong originates in the Tibetan plateau and runs through China's Yunnan province, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Last year, a 64-member Chinese delegation visited Bihar to commemorate Indo-Chinese friendship.