The Bangladesh cabinet has approved a draft of an agreement on the construction of a Buddhist monastery in Nepal funded by Bangladesh.

The development came in a virtual meeting presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday.

The proposed agreement will be signed between the Lumbini Development Trust of Nepal and the Government of Bangladesh.

The Trust has allocated a plot to Bangladesh after the country proposed to construct a monastery in Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautama Buddha, said Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam.

"The matter came to us from the religious affairs ministry. The area under the Lumbini Development Trust is deeply connected with Gautama Buddha. Buddhists from different countries have a strong connection with this place."

"A plot was allocated after Bangladesh expressed its interest in building a monastery or a pavilion there. It was all processed through the Bangladesh embassy," he added.

The Lumbini Development Trust has given the greenlight to the project, including the designs, which will cost an estimated Tk 512 million, said Anwarul.

https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2020/07/28/bangladesh-to-fund-construction-of-buddhist-monastery-in-nepal