New Delhi, Mar 14 (PTI) A two-day international conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on "shared Buddhist heritage" with focus on India's civilizational connect with the member nations was inaugurated here on Tuesday.

The session was attended by Culture, Tourism and DoNER Minister G K Reddy, Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi, Minister of State for Culture and Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal, DG of International Buddhist Confederation Abhijit Halder and delegates from China, Pakistan, Russia, Bahrain, Myanmar and UAE.

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Speaking on the occasion, Reddy said the conference will not only celebrate Buddhist common heritage but will also build stronger and deeper bonds among countries.

"Buddhism with its profound vision of eternal harmony in the world has spread far and wide and it touched the lives of inhabitants in all the SCO countries centuries ago. Today, we have all gathered here, at a first of its kind conference, because of this underlying link that binds us. The purpose of this conference is to renew trans cultural links and shared histories between the nations gathered here," he said.

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Addressing the participants, Meghwal said teachings of Buddha about self-realization and self-examination are very relevant for 21st century also. He suggested that the SCO countries should take up programmes and projects on our shared Buddhist heritage which binds us together.

He further suggested that Buddhist manuscripts in Pali be translated into a common language for SCO countries and make them accessible to all the countries.

Lekhi said that heritage and history connect all the SCO countries. She also said that Lord Buddha talked about value based living which is essential for our co-existence.

The event, held under India's leadership of SCO (for a period of one-year from September 17, 2022 until September 2023) brings together Central Asian, East Asian, South Asian and Arab countries on a common platform to discuss "shared Buddhist heritage".

The SCO countries comprise member states, observer states and dialogue partners, including China, Russia and Mongolia. Several scholars and delegates from SCO are presenting research papers on the topic including from Dunhuang Research Academy, China; State Museum of the History of Religion, International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University, Myanmar, among others.

The two-day programme is being organised by the ministries of culture and external affairs and the International Buddhist Confederation (a grantee body of the Ministry of Culture).

A number of Indian scholars of Buddhism are also participating in the event.

The aim of the conference is to re-establish trans-cultural links, seek out commonalities, between Buddhist art of Central Asia, art styles, archaeological sites and antiquity in various museums' collections of the SCO countries.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)