Patna/IBNS: In a big educational push, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated a new campus of the Nalanda University in Bihar's Rajgir, media reports said.

Apart from Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, ambassadors of 17 countries were among the attendees.

After unveiling a plaque, the Prime Minister, who visited Bihar for the first time since returning to power for the third consecutive term, planted a sapling in the new campus.

The Prime Minister posted on X in the morning, "It’s a very special day for our education sector. At around 10:30 AM today, the new campus of the Nalanda University would be inaugurated at Rajgir. Nalanda has a strong connect with our glorious past.

"This university will surely go a long way in catering to the educational needs of the youth."

Previously, Modi had visited the ruins of Nalanda University, a public central university located in the Nalanda district of Rajgir.

The ruins were declared a United Nations Heritage site in 2016.

In March 2006, then President of India, late APJ Abdul Kalam, had proposed the idea to revive Nalanda University.

In the following year, the Bihar Assembly passed a bill to create the new campus.

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen was the first Chancellor of the university 1,597 years ago.