KATHMANDU: A formal agreement to establish sisterly relations between two renowned UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Lumbini of Nepal and Koyasan of Japan, was signed today at Koyasan.

Ambassador of Nepal to Japan Madan Kumar Bhattarai signed the agreement on behalf of Lumbini Development Trust and Mayor of Koyasan Yoshiya Hirano for Koyasan.

The function was held on the playground of 108-year old Koya Elementary School in the presence of a large number of students, guardians, teachers, top officials of Wakayama Prefecture and Koyasan, leading monks and religious authorities, scholars and professors of Koyasan Buddhist University and local residents who had turned out in large numbers to witness the event, according to a statement issued by the Embassy of Nepal in Tokyo.

Also present on the occasion was one of the top leaders of Japan and Chairman of Japan-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship League Toshihiro Nikai.

Two other members of the National Diet Masato Ishida and Hirofumi Kado were also present while another MP Yosuke Tsuruho sent a written message.

According to the Embassy of Nepal in Japan, Nikai pledged full cooperation to engage in reconstruction and revival of tourism and hoped that the new agreement would pave the way for fostering mutual cooperation between the two holy sites.