Myanmar Vice President Prays at Bodh Gaya

Patna, Jan 19 (IANS) Myanmar Vice President Sai Mauk Kham Monday visited Bodh Gaya and prayed at the Mahabodhi temple, Buddhism's holiest shrine, officials said.

Gaya District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agrawal said Kham, who is here on a two-day visit, offered prayers and circumambulated the Mahabodhi tree under which Lord Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment.

A police official said Kham also visited the Mahabodhi Society Centre and other Buddhist temples in Bodh Gaya, about 110 km from Patna.

He will spend the night in a hotel in Bodh Gaya and will leave for New Delhi Tuesday afternoon.

Kham is in India on a five-day visit from Jan 19 to 23 at the invitation of Vice President Hamid Ansari.

He will meet President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

The Myanmar leader is accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes cabinet ministers and deputy ministers.

The visit is the latest in a series of high-level contracts between India and Myanmar over the past few years and will further strengthen the close relations between the two countries, said an official statement.