An international conference on ‘Shared Buddhist Heritage’ was organised in New Delhi with a focus on India’s civilizational connection with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) nations. With this, India took the lead in connecting the nations with common Buddhist heritage and also reclaims its own place as the sacred land of Buddha.
India has seen a great revival of its Buddhist heritage under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has revitalised India’s Buddhist legacy and ties with South East Asian nations, where large population follows Buddhism. Buddhism and India’s connection to Gautam Buddha’s life and teachings has been central to India’s soft power diplomacy. Buddhist heritage as a foreign policy tool has been has been a significant aspect of India’s Act East policy.
PM Modi has been giving special focus on developing Buddhist sites and establishing institutions to study Buddhism. His govt is also keen on a Buddhist tourist circuit connecting all places related to Gautam Buddha. PM Modi has been conveying the message of peace, nonviolence & universal good derived from the teachings of Buddha as he visits Buddhists temples during most of his foreign tours. He has been working to turn India’s Buddhist heritage into a strategic asset.
Indian Prime Minister Modi has been visiting Buddhist temples and sites during his foreign tours. The Indian Government announced a $15 million grant for the promotion of Buddhist ties with its neighbor Sri Lanka. During his Japan visit, Modi visited Kyoto, the home to To-ji Temple, a 9th century Buddhist complex. There he met with then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. India’s Minister for External Affairs tweeted a photo of the two leaders walking together through the temple grounds, saying, “Moving in unison. PM Modi and PM Abe at To-ji temple, symbolic of India-Japan civilizational commonalities.”
The Japanese leader echoed this sentiment, telling local reporters at the time how Buddhism spread from India to Japan, creating a “sutra” (thread) between the two countries.
In May 2022, PM Narendra Modi visited Nepal on the auspicious occasion of Buddha Poornima and sought to project India as the nodal country for preserving and promoting the legacy of Buddhism. Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba launched the construction of the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage in the Lumbini Monastic Zone. In his speech, PM Modi invoked common Buddhist heritage and shared values of Buddhism. He also said, “the devotion to Lord Buddha binds us together, and makes us members of one family.”
The international conference on ‘Shared Buddhist Heritage’ became important in the above background as a first of its kind event, under India’s leadership of SCO, which brings together Central Asian, East Asian, South Asian and Arab countries on a common platform to discuss their common Buddhist Heritage.
SCO countries bound by thought, philosphy of Buddhism: Meenakashi Lekhi
Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi met with a SCO delegation and said it was time to go back to Buddhist thought, cooperate and work together on the basis of the principle of non-violence
The connection between the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and Buddhism runs deep, as several member states, such as India, China, Central Asian Republics and even Russia have Buddhist heritage.
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