1. A Bodhi tree seedlings presentation ceremony will take place at the Korea National Arboretum (KNA) in Gwangneung forest, Gyeonggi-do (province), on March 19. The ceremony will come as the Indian government pledged at the bilateral summit meeting in January 2014 to present the seedlings to the government of the Republic of Korea.

° The ceremony will bring together Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se and Minister of the Korea Forest Service Shin Won-sop from the ROK as well as Secretary (East) of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) Anil Wadhwa and Ambassador to the ROK Vishnu Prakash from India. The Indian Secretary is on a visit to the ROK for this ceremony.

2. The event will take place as India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during President Park Geun-hye’s state visit to India in January 2014, expressed the willingness to present Bodhi tree seedlings to celebrate the bilateral relations that have developed to strategic partnership based on their close bond in terms of history and culture as well as a token of India’s special friendship and goodwill toward the people of the ROK.

3. The Bodhi tree seedlings, as a token of the valuable historical and cultural bond between the two countries, are expected to help further solidify the bilateral relations.

                Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation