New Delhi: Chinese monks, as well as the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, will not participate at the International Buddhist Conference that will be attended by delegations from nearly 30 countries later this week.
The Global Buddhist Summit (GBS) is being organised by the Union Ministry of Culture and the New Delhi-based International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) on April 20-21.
At a press conference on Monday, the director general of IBC, Abhijit Halder told reporters, “Chinese are not coming. Invitations were sent…From Taiwan, they (two delegates) are coming”, as quoted by The Telegraph.
He added that the invitations were sent to various Buddhist institutions and not governments, as per The Hindu.
Halder also stated that the Dalai Lama, who is at the centre of a controversy over his public behaviour with a young boy, might not attend the event due to “health issues”. “An invitation has been sent (to the Dalai Lama) but because of his health I don’t know if he can attend,” Halder said.
In total, around 320 delegations would participate in the summit, which includes 170 foreign participants from Mexico, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Japan. The largest delegation of 30 members is from Vietnam, followed by 20 from Sri Lanka.
The delegates include prominent scholars, monks, diplomats and members of Buddhist organisations across the globe.
The conference will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the theme of “ “Responses to Contemporary Challenges from Philosophy to Praxis”.
Addressing the interaction, Union culture minister G. Kishan Reddy said that the summit, highlighting India’s role as the birthplace of Buddhism, “aims to find solutions to problems such as climate change, poverty, and conflict, among others, by exploring the Buddhist teachings and practices”.
The IBC, which is supported by the Indian government, traces its origin to the 2011 International Buddhist Congregation in New Delhi. China had kept away from the 2011 conference due to Dalai Lama’s speaking role. When New Delhi declined China’s request to exclude the Dalai Lama from the conference, Beijing cancelled the 15th round of border talks between the Special Representatives scheduled for December 2011.
The IBC had also co-organised the international conference on Shared Buddhist heritage of SCO countries last month, which had been attended by Chinese delegates.