Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the inaugural session of the Global Buddhist Summit in the national capital on Thursday.

The event will begin at 10 am at Hotel Ashok in Delhi. The two-day Summit is being hosted by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with International Buddhist Confederation (IBC).

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The keynote speakers at the event will be Professor Robert Thurman, a leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism, and His Holiness Thich Tri Quang, the Deputy Patriarch of, Vietnam Buddhist Sangha.

Professor Thurman was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri Award in 2020 for his work on recovering India’s ancient Buddhist heritage.

The theme of the Global Buddhist Summit is ‘Responses to Contemporary Challenges: Philosophy to Praxis.’

“The Summit is an effort towards engaging the global Buddhist Dhamma leadership and scholars on matters of Buddhist and universal concerns, and to come up with policy inputs to address them collectively. The discussion in the Summit will explore how the Buddha Dhamma’s fundamental values can provide inspiration and guidance in contemporary settings,” the PMO stated in a release.

The Summit will witness the participation of eminent scholars, Sangha leaders and Dharma practitioners from all over the world, who will discuss pressing global issues and look for answers in the Buddha Dhamma that are based on universal values, the release said.
“The discussions will be held under four themes: Buddha Dhamma and Peace; Buddha Dhamma: Environmental Crisis, Health and Sustainability; Preservation of Nalanda Buddhist Tradition; Buddha Dhamma Pilgrimage, Living Heritage and Buddha Relics: a resilient foundation to India’s centuries-old cultural links to countries in South, South-East and East Asia,” it added.