PM Modi to inaugurate Global Buddhist Summit in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a two-day Global Buddhist Summit in Delhi, to be held later this week, that will see the participation of eminent Buddhist monks, scholars and delegates from various parts of the world, Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the conference will be held at The Ashok hotel on April 20-21.

The prime minister will inaugurate the conference that will be the first of its kind, given its scale and the stature of participants, Reddy said. ''Eminent Buddhist monks, scholars, ambassadors and diplomats from various foreign countries will take part in the summit, which will be hosted by the Union Ministry of Culture along with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC),'' he told reporters. The minister said delegates from nearly 30 countries apart from India are scheduled to attend the mega event.

Delegates from Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Russia, among others, will attend the event, IBC Director-General Abhijit Halder said. The theme of the Conference is 'Responses to Contemporary Challenges from Philosophy to Praxis'. Asked if any delegate from China will attend the event, Halder said ''an invitation was sent but no specific response has been received''.

He said the IBC network spans the world and invitations were sent to institutions and ''not governments''.

Halder was also asked if Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama will attend. ''We have sent the invite but due to (his) health issues, we are still awaiting confirmation,'' he added.

Halder said the conference was first envisioned in 2020 but could not take place at the time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then it was difficult to bring together top monks from various countries at one time in one place, he added.

Reddy said India is the ''birthplace of Buddhism'' and ''the land of the Buddha''. ''Therefore, it is our responsibility to showcase our Buddhist history and heritage to the wider world and the conference is in line with that vision of the country and the current government led by PM Modi,'' he added.

Reddy was also asked if the foreign delegates will visit various Buddhist sites in the country. The minister said, ''Delegates may visit different sites and the government of India will help coordinate their visits so that we can showcase our monuments and sites associated with Buddhism.''