The events organized by the Permanent Delegation of Sri Lanka to UNESCO to mark Vesak in Paris included a series of panel discussions around the theme of “Inter-Faith Dialogue: the way forward”
The first of these discussions took place on 24th May 2013 and was moderated by the newly appointed Ambassador/ Permanent Delegate of Sri Lanka to UNESCO, Prof. Karunaratne Hangawatte. The discussants on this occasions included former French Ambassador Michel Lummaux who spoke on “The coexistence of different religions in South Asia: a personal testimony”. In addition the Ambassador/ Permanent Delegate of Serbia, Dr Zorica Tomic intervened on “Religious Dialogue and Reconciliation” while French writer and journalist, Laurence Gourret-Lapeyre reflected upon the topic “In the Footsteps of Ad-In Jalal Rumi – ‘Love is my religion’; Testimony of meetings in the Indian Sub-Continent and Presentation of ‘The Wave of Nilaveli’”
The second panel discussion was moderated by the Ambassador/ Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO, Vinay Sheel Oberoi, while the panelists included Nepalese Ambassador Mohan Krishna Shrestha who spoke on ‘Importance of Buddhism in Today’s World’, Cambodian Ambassador Narang Nouth, who reflected upon "The peaceful coexistence of the Muslim Cham minority with the majority of the Khmer Buddhist in Cambodia, Macedonian Ambassador Agron Budjaku who shared his views on “Inter-faith Dialogue in the era of globalization”. In addition Sudanese Ambassador Dr Khalid Mohamed Farah spoke on “Interfaith dialogue and the experiences of Sudan” while the representative of the Chargé d’Affaires of Madagascar highlighted “Sources and resources for a Culture of Peace” and the Rector of the Russian Orthodox Seminary in France, Rev Father Alexander Siniakov articulated his views on the subject of “Orthodox Christians contribution to Inter-faith dialogue”
Extensive sessions of discussions followed with an exchange of views on the presentations made by the discussants as well as expressions of views and opinions, from the large and distinguished gathering, which brought together over 500 people including Ambassadors, Permanent Delegates, diplomats and representatives from countries across the world.
The panel discussions were arranged in keeping with the over-arching theme of “Buddhism and Inter-Faith Dialogue: Reconciliation through Education” under which several other events were also organized by the Permanent Delegation of Sri Lanka to UNESCO.
Permanent Delegation of Sri Lanka to UNESCO
Paris
30th May 2013
