Prime Minister Modi signs guest book at Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7 September arrived at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, one of the most revered sites in Myanmar, on the second day of his two-day visit to the country.

The Prime Minister signed the guest book at the Shwedagon Pagoda. With a gold-plated, 99-meter tall (325 feet) spire encrusted with diamonds and rubies, the pagoda towers over Yangon and is the spiritual center of the Burmese Buddhism.

Prime Minister will next visit the Kalibari Temple, where the security has been beefed up.

Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government relocated the capital to the purpose-built city of Naypyidaw in central Myanmar.

On 5 September, Prime Minister Modi visited the famous Ananda Temple in Myanmar's ancient city, Bagan, which was damaged in a tremor in 2016 and is being renovated with India's assistance.

The Archaeological Survey of India has carried out structural conservation and chemical preservation work of this temple. The restoration work is being carried out after the damage due to an earthquake last year.

The temple, one of the surviving masterpieces of the Mon architecture, is believed to have been built around 1105 by King Kyanzittha, one of the greatest Burmese monarchs.

India and Myanmar have agreed that terrorism remains one of the major threats to peace and stability in the region. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi discussed the security situation prevailing along the long land border and maritime boundary.

The Prime Minister said his government has always taken bold and tough decisions aimed at people's welfare as for them, the nation is above everything else.

"For us, the nation is above everything else. That is why we have always taken bold and tough decisions aimed at people's welfare," Prime Minister Modi said, while addressing the Indian community in Yangon at the Thuwunna Stadium.

Emphasising Myanmar's value in India's freedom struggle, Prime Minister Modi said that this is the sacred land from where Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose gave the slogan of 'give me blood and I will give you freedom'.

He appreciated the role of the Indian diaspora in contributing towards to the development of wherever they have settled, adding that they also kept in touch with their roots.

The Prime Minister also said Yoga was globally recognised due to efforts of the Indians living in different parts of the world. 

-ANI