Peace summit could be staged each decade

Bangkok (DPA): The Millennium World Peace Summit of religious and spiritual leaders held at the United Nations in August could become a regular event organized every 10 years, the secretary general of the event, Bawa Jain, said in early November.

The summit, from August 28 to August 31, was meant to be a one-time event of the new millennium that went so well that organizers are now considering having one every 10 years, Bawa said.

"What came out of the summit was peace initiatives in different parts of the world. It is critical for peace to get religious leaders more engaged," he said.

"The single most important thing was to build a global ally of religious and spiritual leaders in support of the work of the United Nations. Especially peacekeeping operations," Bawa added.

The summit brought together several hundred religious and spiritual leaders from more than 110 countries, which he said was a first step and not a complete representation.

The most notable absence was the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, who did not attend because China objected to his invitation.

Bawa, however, said he sought the Dalai Lama's guidance and the spiritual leader gave his blessings to the summit.

"I asked his holiness what we should do and he said, 'the summit must happen, this is a unique opportunity'. And he said we had his blessings," Bawa said.

Bawa is now traveling the world to meet the various delegations that attended the summit and get feedback. He has found there is strong encouragement to do it again.

Bawa scheduled his Bangkok visit so he could also attend the Second World Buddhist Summit from Nov. 9 through Nov. 13 just north of Bangkok.