PM Narendra Modi attends birth centenary celebrations of 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche in Leh

Srinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday arrived in Leh town and attended the birth centenary celebrations of 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche and to oversee the commencement of work on Zoji La Tunnel in Ladakh region.

The PM, who is on a day-long visit to Jammu and Kashmir, will later inaugurate the 3330 MW Kishanganga Hydropower Station in Srinagar.

PM Narendra Modi at the closing ceremony of birth centenary celebrations of 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche & the commencement of work on Zoji La Tunnel in #Leh. pic.twitter.com/6qspWBRgOT

— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2018

He was received at the Leh Airport by Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in addition to senior civil and military officials.

PM Narendra Modi paid tribute to Kushok Bakula Rinpoche at the closing ceremony of birth centenary celebrations of Rinpoche in Leh.

PM Narendra Modi pays tribute to Kushok Bakula Rinpoche at the closing ceremony of birth centenary celebrations of Rinpoche in #Leh. pic.twitter.com/A1hcoh0Lpk

— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2018

The Prime Minister will also unveil a plaque to mark the commencement of work on the Zojila Tunnel, India's longest road tunnel and Asia's longest bi-directional tunnel.

PM Modi will later inaugurate the Kishanganga Project, which has seen resistance from by Pakistan, claiming that it violates the landmark Indus Water Treaty. 

PM Modi is expected to dedicate the power project to the nation at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC), reported news agency ANI. 

NHPC in a statement in April had said that the third unit (110MW) of the project was successfully synchronised with the grid and that it has achieved its rated full load successfully. 

Expected to generate 1,713 million units per annum by diverting water from Kishanganaga river to an underground powerhouse, the project is expected to benefit several north Indian states.

Pakistan has raised several objections in the past but India has maintained the project would not have any impact on rivers flowing into the neighbouring country.