April 07, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 18, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, April 6: The visiting chief monk of Myanmar, at a lecture on Buddhism and peace, said true world peace among nations and religions was possible only if people first discovered inner peace within themselves and stressed the promotion of inter-religious and intercultural understanding in the region.

The Chief Monk of Myanmar (Burma), Dr Ashin Niamsara, expressed these views at the Taxila Institute of Asian Civilizations (TIAC) that had organized a lecture on Buddhism in the seminar hall of the institute’s museum, located within the Quaid-i-Azam University, here on Friday.

Dr Niamsara spoke on Buddhism and peace and said true peace in the world, between nations and religions, was only possible if people found inner peace first.

That peace was attained through discipline of mind, heart, tongue and action; all of which should endeavour to do good and avoid evil.

He said he was very interested in the developments of Pakistani research on Buddhist heritage and underlined the value of more international academic exchanges in this field. Dr Niamsara is famous for founding countless Vipassana meditation institutes across the world.

The lecture was held as a follow-up of the first ‘International conference on Buddhism of Pakistan; a source of regional cooperation,’ which was held last weekend and also aimed at raising awareness of the rich Buddhist cultural heritage of Pakistan, and promotion of inter-religious and intercultural understanding within the South and Southeast Asian region.

The vice chancellor of the Quaid-i-Azam University, Dr Qasim Jan, said “Most people know that Islam means peace. But how can we achieve this peace? These are very difficult, conflict-ridden times. We can find great inspiration, common ground and mutual understanding from other cultures, like the Buddhist culture, which historically had a deep impact on this region.”

“This can, for instance, be done through short term courses and exchange projects between academic institutions of Myanmar and TIAC, QAU. Mutual understanding can only serve to deepen both our knowledge and faith, from whichever religion we belong,” he continued.

Mr Azad Kakepoto of TIAC thanked the participants of the Myanmar delegation for their visit to TIAC on behalf of Prof Dr AH Dani. Dr M Saleem also briefed the audience about TIAC. The programme ended with refreshment and prayers at the replica Votive Stupa inside the TIAC.

APP ADDS: The managing director of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) said Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world that are blessed with such an immense potential for tourism.

Speaking at a reception, held in honour of a 52-member delegation of Monks from Myanmar, Salman Javed said several archaeological remains of Buddhism were in Pakistan and invited them to visit these cultural places more frequently.

He said Pakistan was home to some of the world’s oldest archaeological and religious sites, which could help it in attracting a large number of tourists, especially from Buddhist countries from the East and South East Asia.

He said PTDC worked at a grassroots level to promote tourism.

He said the ‘Gandhara Week’ had been celebrated to boost tourism in the country, during March 26-31 during which over 90 scholars, historians, archaeologists, journalists and writers, from all over the world, visited Pakistan to participate in the event.

During their stay, the participants from countries, including China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Sri Lanka visited the Gandhara sites in Taxila, Peshawar, Swat, Takht Bhai and Lahore.